Zenkai
by Wilhelm Fink
Summary: AU: What if instead of returning to Frieza, the young Prince Vegeta chose to run? And as fate would have it, he crash lands on a pale blue dot at the edge of the galaxy. He's met by a lavender-haired girl on a quest to awaken an eternal dragon, and stays to wish for the power to defeat the cruel tyrant. What was originally a quick pitstop changes into the adventure of a lifetime.
1. Saiya-jin

**Chapter 1: Saiya-jin**

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><p><strong>Age 737<strong>

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><p><em>"Prince Vegeta! Do you copy sir?!"<em>

"I'm here,"

_"Sir, unfortunate news from Lord Frieza. Planet Vegeta was struck by a large astroid today...and destroyed.."_

"And...you're sure?"

_"Affirmative sir. Lord Frieza sends his sympathies and regrets. As of now, you're the only known survivor."_

"Woah. Really?"

_"Would you like to send a reply sir?"_

"No. No reply,"

_"Over and out."_

Vegeta clicked the red button on the side of his scouter and ended the transmission. He stared into the dimly lit landscape of the alien planet he had just decimated. The star that warmed the planet was setting on the horizon and left the planet with a dull green and yellow hue. The bodies of creatures called to defend their planet were strewn about the campsite that Vegeta had set up for himself at the edge of an alien forest. Still silent, Vegeta's eyes moved from one tree to the next as he studied the jungle-like vines that draped down from the branches and around their trunks. He was alone. He was alone at five years old. Vegeta pulled his knees into his chest and let out a sigh. He placed his forehead on his knees and closed his eyes for a moment.

Isolated from most of the population his entire life, he knew loneliness. He spent his days training and destroying Saibamen in specially designed rooms that could withstand energy blasts. He spent his nights eating professionally prepared meals followed by more training. The Saibamen were already no match for him. He loved and admired his father although he didn't get to see him as much as he hoped for. The most Saiya-jin interaction he got was training with or being sent on low level missions with one of his father's elite warriors, Nappa.

When he was with his father, he mostly just listened. Listened to tales of his father's past and what he hoped for the future of the Saiya-jin race. But most of all, he listened to his father talk about Frieza; the monster that his father had struck a deal with to avoid destruction. His father confided in him that the time was nearing for the Saiya-jins to revolt and take back their planet once and for all. Vegeta himself didn't care for Frieza much and it didn't bother him that Frieza most likely didn't care for him. Vegeta even heard whispers that Frieza might even grow to fear him. But right now, it didn't matter. His home was gone. His family was gone. He didn't want to go back to Frieza and be used as a tool for Frieza's plan of universal domination. He needed to defeat Frieza himself.

Vegeta's deep thought was broken by a voice coming into the scouter that was sitting on his left ear.

_"Prince Vegeta! Do you copy?"_

Vegeta's eyes snapped open. "Nappa? Is that you? What's going on?!"

_"I received a message from one of Frieza's soldiers that Planet Vegeta has been destroyed. He said you and I were the only survivors. I've also been in contact with Lord Frieza and he requests that I take you to him immediately."_

Vegeta paused. This is what he feared; going back and being used as a pawn for Frieza. Vegeta stood, removed his scouter from his ear and let it sit in his hand. Nappa's voice came through again, muffled and barely audible.

_"Vegeta?! Are you there?"_

Vegeta looked down and scowled at his scouter. He squeezed his hand and crushed it. He dumped the remnants into the fire in front of him and began walking to his spacepod.

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><p>A large, saucer-like spacecraft silently drifted through the rust colored rubble that was once Planet Vegeta. It was mainly white with a black band that ran around the middle. The black band was dotted with blue bubble shaped windows and round yellow decorative plates. Inside the bridge of the ship, a short devilish creature paced back and forth impatiently. The creature was mainly white, pink and purple with black horns on top of its head and a large pink tail that swished back and forth as it walked. A slight scowl could be seen on its face as it continued to pace with its arms behind its back. After a few silent moments of pacing, the door to the bridge opened with a loud whooshing sound. A pale, green, humanoid alien with long blue hair entered and gave a deep bow.<p>

"Lord Frieza. I just finished a correspondence with Nappa.."

"And?" Frieza interrupted. He stopped pacing, but continued to stare out into space.

The alien winced knowing that Frieza would not like the news he was about to deliver. "And he says that he's lost contact with him,"

Frieza turned around and exploded with anger. "What?! What do you mean he lost contact?!"

"He said that he had a very brief conversation with the prince before his scouter signal disappeared,"

Frieza's voice was more calm but it still seethed with anger. "Well, Zarbon, I suggest you tell Nappa that he had better find the young prince and bring him to me,"

Zarbon bowed once again before exiting. "Yes. Right away, Lord Frieza,"

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><p><strong>Age 749<strong>

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><p>A Saiya-jin spacepod streaked through the endless void. Its high rate of speed formed white energy around the craft. It barreled recklessly toward a rapidly approaching blue planet that was dotted with patches of green landmasses and white, whispy clouds. As the spacepod entered the planet's atmosphere, it began to glow red and shutter as the stratosphere heated the exterior. The ship was heavily damaged with scrapes, dents and patches of metal peeling off of the hull.<p>

The spacepod managed to hold itself together and made it into the sunlit, blue sky. As it descended it swayed back and forth over the treetops of a dense forest before slamming into a clearing near a small brick hut with a pointed blue roof. The crash created a deep impact crater in the clearing. Upon impact, the damaged ship's door flew open and sent its occupant crashing into rock and dirt. The pilot wore damaged armor with tan shoulder plates that had been chipped away. His back was covered with a small remnant of a red cape that was barely clinging to the armor. Under the armor was a tattered blue body suit that was filled with holes as well as matching white gloves and boots. The tail that protruded from his lower back lay limp, across his hip off to his right side.

The explosion caused quite a commotion as trees shook and birds scattered into the sky. The aftershock from the collision rattled a small, blue car that was traveling in the direction of the crater. The car came to a screeching halt until the rumbling ground ceased. The door opened and a teenage girl with lavender hair stepped out. She wore a yellow dress accompanied by a brown belt, green scarf, and black shoes. Her braided ponytail was tied up with a red ribbon and settled in between her shoulder blades. The girl cautiously began walking toward the smoking crater with a hand placed against the brown holster on her hip. _"What could this be?" _she thought. The girl shuffled her way to the edge of the crater and saw the smoking wreckage of the spaceship. Next to the ship sat the body of a boy, near her age, laying face down in the dirt.

Alarmed, the girl slid down the slope of the crater and ran up to the unconscious boy. She knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his back. "Hey.. Hey.. Are you alright?" she asked, but received no reply. She glanced down and saw a brown, monkey-like tail lying at her feet. Her first instinct was to jump back a bit in surprise. "A tail?" she said to herself. "What? What is he?"

The tail began to twitch a bit and the boy's legs began to move a bit. The lavender-haired girl hopped over to his side and placed a hand on his back again. "Hey, don't move. You'll be alright. I'm going to get you some help," The boy didn't listen and began to lift himself off of the ground. He turned and swatted her hand away violently. The blow connected with the girl's wrist and knocked her back a few feet. The girl grabbed her wrist "Hey! You're being pretty ungrateful and rude to someone who is trying to help you!"

"Leave me be!" the boy returned, with his gruff voice. "Leave me be before I kill you!"

The girl was visibly upset by his statement. "Where did you grow up?! Outer space?! What kind of manners do you have?! You should know you're not supposed to treat a girl like that!" The boy, still recovering, shot a yellow blast of energy that barely missed the girl. The boy placed his thumb and forefinger between his eyes. "Next time I won't miss," he said through gritted teeth. The color drained from the girl's face and she shakily withdrew her pistol and fired a bullet straight into the boy's forehead.

The force of the bullet snapped the visitor's head back. Although he was sitting up now, he was still woozy from the crash and was knocked off balance and onto his back. The girl watched in horror as he picked the bullet out of his forehead and flicked it away. "You'll pay for that!" he shouted. The girl screamed and began to crawl away. Before he could make a move, the boy grabbed his the sides of his head and shouted in agony for a few seconds before he passed out again. The girl, who was already halfway up the crater slope turned around and saw him lying unconscious at the crater floor once again.

She turned and continued climbing up the slope and brushed herself off once she reached solid ground again. She turned and looked down at the boy lying next to the spaceship. "So much for being a good samaritan," she said to herself. She walked back to her car and grabbed a radar off of the dashboard. The white device had a green screen with light green lines criss crossing it like a grid. A yellow light flashed on the screen accompanied by short beeps. The lavender-haired girl glanced down at the screen and back up toward the crater. On the other side of the hole stood a small, brick hut with blue, pointed roofing. "It must be in there," she said. The girl walked with the radar clasped in both hands, looking back and forth between her surroundings and the radar.

She made her way over to the hut and twisted the knob on the door. To her surprise, the door opened and revealed a dimly lit room that looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. The light from the sun shot through the doorway and glimmered in front of her. "Oh?!" she said happily. She ran over to the glimmer and found her prize. "Yes! Another Dragon Ball!" She ran her hands over the semi-transparent orange sphere. The ball also included four red stars. She reached into a dark blue pouch that hung from her belt and pulled out two more nearly identical objects; the only difference being the number of stars. She set her three treasures onto the table and smiled. "Wow, the two, four, and five star Dragon Balls! You're getting pretty good at this, Bulma," she said, congratulating herself. She placed the three Dragon Balls inside her blue pouch and exited the hut. She glanced down into the crater to see the boy, now lying on his back, again unconscious.

_"I can't just leave him there.. But he tried to kill you!" _she argued with herself. Bulma grunted as she made the agonizing decision to remove the boy from the crater. Knowing she wouldn't be strong enough to carry him, she decided to drag him from the bottom of the pit and up into the empty hut. She left him lying on the dirty, wooden floor in between an unused bed and wooden dining table. Bulma walked to the exit of the hut but stopped and turned back before leaving. "There. Don't say I didn't help you," she said with irritation.

As she left the boy alone in the hut, her conscience caught up with her again. _"You're going to leave him all alone in the wilderness?" _Bulma stopped walking let out another frustrated growl. She turned around and returned to the hut.

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><p>The smell of cooked meat stirred the boy to consciousness. He opened his eyes and let them focus for a second, but the dimly lit hut made it difficult. He turned his head to see a plate of stew and Bulma's silhouette sitting in front of a screen emitting a whitish-blue light. His stirring caught Bulma's attention and she faced the waking boy. "Oh, you're up," she said cooly.<p>

"Wh-where am I?" he asked. He placed a hand on his head in an attempt to ease the pain. His brain throbbed and it felt like he was underwater. Everything moved almost in slow motion to him.

Bulma walked over to him and knelt down next to him. "I brought you in here so you wouldn't die alone out there. I think a thank you is in order," she said, annoyed.

The boy sat up straight. "I don't need your help!" he yelled before grabbing his head again. Bulma dropped a plate of stew on his lap. "Here. Eat this,"

The boy scowled and brushed the plate off of his lap, but not hard enough to spill its contents. "Didn't you learn your lesson before? I can destroy you and this entire plane...ARRGH!" He grabbed his head again. "What have you done to me?"

"_I _didn't do anything!" she shouted. "_You _crashed your plane, or spaceship, or whatever it is! All _I _did was help you!" Bulma stood up and walked back toward the television she had deployed from one of her many capsules. "My conscience wouldn't let me leave you!"

"Hmph...conscience," the boy muttered. "Thats what separates Saiya-jins and the rest of the universe. Your archaic sense of morals is what keeps you weak,"

Frustrated and confused, Bulma turned back to the boy. "Saiya, what? Who...or what are you?" The boy smirked. "I'm Vegeta. Prince of the warrior Saiya-jin race. The most fearsome, and ruthless beings in the universe,"

"So...so you're an alien then?" Bulma asked, her voice shaking as she began to back away.

"If that's what you want to call it," Vegeta replied. He picked up the plate of stew that was slowly cooling next to him and placed a spoonful into his mouth. Bulma continued backing towards the door. Her left foot bumped into the blue pouch that contained her Dragon Balls and sent them rolling across the floor. The Four-Star ball rolled towards Vegeta and came to a rest next to a wooden table leg. He grabbed the object and examined it for a few seconds.

"Curious," he began. "I've never come across anything thats looked like this before,"

Bulma, still shocked from learning of the boy's origin, attempted to explain. "I-it's called a Dragon Ball. I found one of them in a box of heirlooms in my attic," she began to calm down a bit as she noticed Vegeta was occupying himself with the food she had left him. "Apparently it belonged to my uncle, but nobody knows how he got it. I did quite a bit of research on it and found an old book that explained it all. There are seven of these orange Dragon Balls, marked with red stars numbering from one to seven," Bulma looked over to Vegeta and could see him now studying the sphere. "The Two-Star was my uncle's and last week I tracked down this Five-Star ball," Bulma held up both of the Dragon Balls to show Vegeta. He didn't even so much as move his eyes over to look. He just stayed fixated on the Four-Star ball that he held in his hands.

"And why are you collecting these," he asked. "There's something about them,"

Bulma smiled for the first time since Vegeta awoke. "If you collect all seven, you get anything you want!"

Vegeta turned to the lavender-haired girl. "Anything?" he asked with a smirk. The look on Vegeta's face startled Bulma and she began to shiver a bit. "Y-yes. According to the legend, when all seven are brought together, they awaken this...eternal dragon,"

"What?" Vegeta asked. He turned his head slightly toward Bulma. "So you're telling me that if you collect all of these so-called Dragon Balls a dragon appears and you get anything you want?"

"Thats right. The dragon's name is Shenron, and he grants one wish. Anything you can imagine," Bulma watched as Vegeta looked back down at the Dragon Ball. _"With the power of these Dragon Balls I could wish for the power to defeat Frieza once and for all. Or better yet. I could become immortal. If I bide my time here and collect these Dragon Balls I can become the most powerful being in the universe!" _Vegeta thought. He stood, Four-Star ball clasped in his right hand.

The maniacal, yet cold look in his eyes made Bulma immediately regret telling Vegeta about the Dragon Balls. A smirk crawled across his face once again. "Hm. I think i'll stay for a while," He tossed the Four-Star up in front of his face and quickly snatched it out of the air. Bulma sat with her back to the door and watched as Vegeta sat down on the dusty, old bed and examine the Dragon Ball for a few more moments. He shifted his eyes in her direction but didn't say a word. Bulma felt a lump forming in her throat and the adrenaline pumping made her shake. Vegeta dropped the ball to the floor and let it roll over next to Bulma where the other Dragon Balls lay. Without a word he lay down on his side facing the wall and promptly fell asleep.

Bulma exhaled heavily and stared up at the ceiling. _"What did I get myself into?" _she thought.

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><p>Sunlight streamed through the slits of the half closed blinds that covered the windows. Bulma's eyes flickered open but she had to squint at first so her eyes could get used to the light. She propped herself up with her right hand and rubber her eyes with her left. She turned toward the bed and saw Vegeta still sleeping soundly on his side. Throughout the night she had contemplated taking the Dragon Balls and leaving, but there was something about the strange boy that intrigued her. <em>"I am a girl all alone in the wilderness. Maybe I could use a body guard," <em>she thought.

Outside of the hut, the soft sound of boots landing on dirt could be heard. Vegeta immediately awoke from his slumber and stood next to his bed. Startled, Bulma fell over and knocked her head against the wall on the hut. She let out a short cry and grabbed her head.

"Quiet down!" Vegeta shouted. Bulma looked up at him and scowled while rubbing the side of her head. Vegeta walked across the wooden floorboards and opened the door. Once his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, he saw a humanoid alien standing twenty feet from the hut. The alien's skin was mainly light blue with purple on top of his head. His eyes were solid yellow with no pupils to be found. His white shirt covered a purple undershirt. His purple pants, white gloves and white boots completed his ensemble.

Vegeta smirked. "Well. It looks like we have a visitor,"

Bulma crawled to the entryway and saw the alien standing before them. She tilted her head slightly as if she recognized him. "Jaco?"

"That's right!" the alien said. He stretched his right leg straight out, bent his left and began moving his arms in circles. "Jaco, the galactic patrolman!"

Bulma got up and ran out to greet him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying with Omari until you went back to your home planet,"

The alien stopped his posing and shook Bulma's hand. "I was," he glanced over her shoulder. "Until I got word that a threat would be making its way to this planet,"

Vegeta glared at the alien and began to make his way over. "So, you heard I was a threat? And what does someone like you plan to do about it?" Jaco brushed Bulma aside and began walking toward Vegeta. The two stopped a few feet from one another. Jaco pointed at himself with his thumb. "I'm going to stop you,"

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><p><em>Welcome, and thank you for reading the first chapter of <em>Zenkai_! I deeply appreciate it. This is a story I've been wanting to tell for years, and, well.. here we are...finally! This idea originally took root in 2003 under a different title, but through all of these years, the concept has never left my mind. I'm beyond excited to get to work, and make this story the best that it can be!_

_For those of you who are unfamiliar with Jaco, I recommend checking out Toriyama's most recent work '_Jaco the Galactic Patrolman'_. Surprisingly, it ties in with the very beginning of Dragon Ball and I liked the character so much that I decided to include him in this story. _

_Some of you may also be wondering what happened to Vegeta in the twelve years between the destruction of Planet Vegeta and the current date, but it will all be explained in due time. I always appreciate feedback, or comments on a chapter, or the entire story in general. Please, don't hesitate to drop off a review. Any questions you may have, I'm always happy to answer as well. I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Vegeta's journey!_

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><p><em><strong>EDIT: <strong>I've decided to put in a table of contents...or something like that so give an approximation of when sagas begin and end. This will be updated between saga transitions._

_Dragon Ball Saga: Chapters 1 to 5_

_21st Tenkaichi Budokai mini-saga: Chapters 6 to 8 (Chapter 8 also includes the first meeting with the Red Ribbon Army)_

_Red Ribbon Saga: ONGOING_


	2. The Galactic Patrolman

_Thanks for the follows and the favs! It always means a lot!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: The Galactic Patrolman<strong>

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><p>Vegeta gave a short laugh. "You're going to stop me? How funny,"<p>

Jaco spaced his legs out into a V-shape and raised his arms straight above his head. "Prepare yourself!" He then proceeded to stretch his arms straight out to his sides with his fists clenched. "I, Jaco, will defeat you in battle and bring you to justice!"

Jaco's sweeping movements did nothing but further anger the Saiya-jin prince. "Enough of this nonsense!" he screamed. Vegeta flexed his arms at his sides and dashed toward the alien. Vegeta threw a quick high kick that, to his surprise, met Jaco's forearm instead of his head. Vegeta hopped back from the alien for the moment. He smirked, and brushed his thumb quickly across his bottom lip. "How unexpected. But you won't last long,"

Vegeta shot off again at Jaco. The prince began his assault with a flurry of punches. Jaco gracefully moved his head back and forth as he dodged them. Vegeta ended the exchange with a body kick that again slammed into Jaco's forearm. The pale blue alien found a small opening as Vegeta finished his kick and slammed a gloved fist into Vegeta's nose. The blow snapped the Saiya-jin's head back, but it surprised him more than hurt. Jaco followed up his punch with a sweep that took out Vegeta's legs and left him flat on his back. Jaco jumped into the air with his right fist cocked back next to his head. Vegeta rolled away and launched himself into the air. Jaco's fist smashed into the dirt where Vegeta once lay and kicked up dust all around them. Bulma, who was still standing a few yards away, shielded her eyes from the dirt that was kicked up.

Vegeta landed and glared at the pale blue alien. "Enough of these games," he spat. "I'm done with you," Jaco stood and turned his head in the Saiya-jin's direction but didn't say a word. Vegeta dashed at Jaco and connected with a crushing blow to the alien's jaw. Jaco flew backward and skidded across the dirt. Vegeta continued with his momentum and hit the ground running toward him. Jaco, who was laying on his back, saw Vegeta with a handful of yellow energy as he closed in on him. Vegeta released the blast and watched it fly towards its target. Jaco's eyes widened as the energy blast closed in on him. He quickly regained his composure and gritted his teeth. He placed his arms behind him and launched himself toward the blast feet first. Jaco's feet connected with the blast and sent it flying up into the air. The ball of energy exploded brightly in the sky above them.

The explosion from the blast whipped up a huge gust of wind that blew dirt, leaves and small rocks around the battlefield. Bulma again raised an arm to shield her face from the debris. "What is going on?!" she shouted. "Who are these guys?"

Jaco pushed himself up off of the ground and wiped the purple blood that had begun leaking from his mouth. Vegeta stood near the edge of the crater that his spaceship had created. "It's funny," he said as he began walking toward Jaco. "This is the longest workout i've had in a while, but I think its time we end this," Vegeta raised his right arm and pointed his index finger at Jaco. The Saiya-jin shot off three quick bursts of yellow energy from his finger. The three blasts connected with Jaco's left shoulder, right thigh, and left forearm almost simultaneously. Jaco stumbled backward, allowing Vegeta time to attack. The prince grabbed Jaco's white shirt and lifted him off of the ground. With only a scowl, Vegeta rammed a fist into Jaco's stomach. The alien let out a cry of anguish as well as a mixture of purple blood and spit. "Did you really think you could stand in my way?" Vegeta asked. "Did you really think you'd be a match for the prince of all Saiya-jins?"

Jaco could only gasp for breath. He grabbed Vegeta's clenched fist with both hands in attempt to free himself. The prince lowered Jaco a bit and punched him right between the eyes. Jaco fell from Vegeta's grasp and collapsed on the ground.

Bulma cowered next to her car as she watched Vegeta kick Jaco in the air. The alien fell back to Earth like a rag doll, but before he hit the ground, Vegeta landed another kick that sent Jaco rolling across the ground. Jaco dug his nails into the dirt and to stop his momentum. He managed to prop himself up on his left arm and looked up to see Vegeta striding toward him with a smirk on his face.

"Looks like this is the end of the road for you spaceman," he laughed. He raised his right arm in front of his body and a point of energy began to grow within his palm.

"Vegeta!" Bulma, who had come to Jaco's aid, shouted. "Thats enough!"

"Stay out of this! Get out of my way or i'll destroy the both of you!" Vegeta yelled; arm still outstretched.

Bulma walked in front of Jaco and stood between him and Vegeta. "Stop," she pleaded with the Saiya-jin prince. Vegeta fired off a blast at her feet and continued to advance. Bulma jumped back and fell backward over Jaco's injured body. Vegeta again filled his palm with scorching yellow energy as he walked. "I've just about had enough of the both of you. Now move out of the way, woman!"

Before Vegeta could react, Jaco extended his right arm toward him and shot an invisible ki blast that knocked the Saiya-jin backward. Jaco dashed off toward Vegeta but the prince recovered before Jaco could attack and the pale blue alien got a face full of Vegeta's fist.

Bulma began racing over into the fray and pulled a handgun from the holster on her hip. She fired off two shots into Vegeta's chest to distract him from landing a killing blow on Jaco's ragged body. Vegeta staggered back a few steps as the bullets hit him. One of the bullets fell onto the ground, while the other stayed lodged in chest. Vegeta cried out in pain and shot a ki blast blindly in Bulma's direction. The blast missed Bulma by yards over her head. Bulma made her way over to Jaco and knelt down at his side while she kept her gun focused on Vegeta. "Vegeta! I said stop! If we keep fighting like this we'll never get the Dragon Balls!"

"A Saiya-jin never backs down from a fight!" he screamed. A barely visible purple aura formed around him and a vein on his forehead became more pronounced. "This inferior alien scum made the mistake of challenging me to battle and it is my duty to destroy him!"

Bulma looked down at the ground and tears began to form in her eyes. Small patches of dirt darkened beneath her as her tears stained the earth. She let out a sniffle and looked up at the proud Saiya-jin warrior. "Vegeta.. Please. He's very important to my family,"

Vegeta's expression softened a little. His mind wandered to when he was a child. He had just left his sleeping quarters to investigate a strange sound coming from the floor beneath. To his horror he saw Beerus, the God of Destruction, using his father as a footstool. His father, the champion and king of the Saiya-jin race was reduced to a lowly servant. Frightened, Vegeta immediately returned to his quarters and attempted to force the scene from his mind.

The very faint, purple aura that had surrounded Vegeta receded. He turned away from Bulma and Jaco and began to walk back toward the small hut that he had occupied the night before. "Do what you will," he said.

"T-thank you, Vegeta," Bulma said with a small smile. She rolled Jaco onto his back and stood up. She jogged over to her now slightly damaged car and rummaged around in the back seat. She returned to Jaco with a box of first aid supplies to tend to his wounds. Bulma used some prepackaged medicated wipes to clean up Jaco's cuts and scrapes; much to his dismay.

After having his cuts cleaned up, an aching Jaco managed to stand and dusted himself off. "This isn't over," he said solemnly. "It is my mission to keep him from destroying the planet. He's dangerous,"

"I know," Bulma began, as she packed away her medical supplies. "But he's going to help me find the Dragon Balls,"

"Excuse me? Dragon what?" Jaco asked.

Bulma sighed and told the legend of the Dragon Balls to Jaco. After the explanation, the alien looked over toward the hut that Vegeta had entered, and back to Bulma. "Did you tell him all of this?"

"Well, yeah," Bulma said. "He saw one of my Dragon Balls and asked about them. I didn't think it would be a big deal until I saw the look in his eyes after I explained them,"

"Who knows why he could want those. Saiya-jins are ruthless killing machines that live to fight. Letting him anywhere near these stones is just asking for trouble," Jaco said. Bulma furrowed her brow and looked away from Jaco. "I know its a big risk, but.." she paused. "I feel like he could be a huge help,"

"Why do you even want to find all of these Dragon Balls exactly?" Jaco asked.

Bulma turned to him and smiled. "I'm wishing for the perfect man of course!"

Jaco blinked a couple times before saying anything. "You're jeopardizing the future of the human race so you can find a boyfriend?"

"Not just any boyfriend! The _perfect _boyfriend!" she said as she clasped her hands together against her right cheek.

Jaco sighed. "If you insist on finding all of them, and you insist on taking him with you, then I have no choice but to stay with you to make sure he doesn't cause any trouble,"

Bulma smiled. "Thank you, Jaco. We should get going. I need to get my things from the hut over there before we leave," Jaco nodded and walked over to wait by the car while Bulma made her way back to the hut. Vegeta had left the door open after leaving the battle with Jaco. Dirt, leaves and rocks had been blown into the small one room hut during the fight. As Bulma entered, her foot sent a rock skipping across the wooden floor. Vegeta shot up from the bed he was laying on and startled Bulma.

"Will you quit doing that!" she shouted.

"Well if you and your friends stop startling me than you wouldn't have to worry about it!" he yelled back. Bulma exhaled loudly and began to gather her things from the floor. "We're leaving," She re-capsulized her television, and sleeping bag, grabbed her blue bag that contained the Dragon Balls, and stood. "Lets go,"

Vegeta scowled and followed her out of the hut. He walked for a few feet but stopped upon seeing Jaco standing by Bulma's car. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm coming along to keep you under control," Jaco said.

"Hmph. Keep me under control? I suggest you stay out of my way or i'll crush like I did before!" Vegeta said, becoming irritated. Bulma turned and glared at Vegeta for a moment. The prince turned his head away but followed her toward the car anyway.

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><p>"Hmm. The radar says the Dragon Ball is still quite a bit away. Oh well, in this car we'll be there in no time!" Bulma said happily. Jaco sat in the passenger seat of the car with his elbow sitting in the window opening with his head in his hand. Vegeta was in the back seat with his arms crossed as he stared out the window.<p>

The peaceful drive was soon interrupted. Bulma screamed, swerved the car, and drove it off of the side of the road. The vehicle dove down into ravine next to the road and crashed into the trunk of a large oak tree. Vegeta and Jaco both exited the car quickly and looked unhappy with Bulma as she slowly pulled herself from the drivers seat.

"Why did you do that?" Jaco asked.

"I'm glad to see you're alright too," Bulma said sarcastically. She brushed some lavender hair from her face and began jogging back up to the road. Jaco and Vegeta both eyed each other wearily before following her together. Neither one wanted to be behind or in front of the other so they walked side by side, a few feet apart. When they reached the road, Bulma could seen kneeling down next to a large, brown turtle that sat in the middle of the road.

"Hey guys! This turtle is lost. He says he can offer us a reward if we take him home," she said. She popped up and ran over to Vegeta and Jaco. "A Dragon Ball!"

"And how do you propose we get him home?" Jaco asked.

The next thing Jaco knew, he had the turtle on his back as he carried him down the dirt road. "So, how far do we have to go to get you home?"

"If you can just take me to the beach, I can swim home and return with your reward," the turtle said.

"The beach?!" Bulma exclaimed. "That's like ten miles from here!"

"If someone wouldn't have crashed the car then it wouldn't have taken so long," Jaco said.

"Hey! I swerved to avoid the turtle! You would have done the same thing!" Bulma retorted.

Realizing he wouldn't win the fight, Jaco just shook his head and continued on with the turtle on his back.


	3. The Turtle Hermit

_Note: First of all, i'd like to apologize for taking so long for this chapter to materialize. At least a quarter of it had been written for nearly five months before I finally got another chance to get a hold of it. I'm sure you all know how life gets in the way. Now, here is the (I hope) long awaited continuation of Vegeta, Bulma, and Jaco's journey._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: The Turtle Hermit<strong>

* * *

><p>The morning sky was orange, yellow, and pink with the red, rising sun sitting low on the horizon. Wispy clouds sat high up in the atmosphere, allowing the sun to shine through them. Jaco stood still, facing the sea, with his arms crossed. His long shadow landed on a small, single occupancy tent that was set up a few yards away.<p>

Vegeta, Bulma and Jaco had spent the night on the beach following their quest to deliver a lost turtle to the sea. The turtle had set off home near sunset and promised to return early in the morning with their reward. Jaco had kept watch for the turtle through the night and early morning. Vegeta had found a stone ledge to lay on for the night, while Bulma used one of her many capsules to set up a tent for herself.

The sound of unzipping broke Jaco's focus on the horizon as he turned to see Bulma emerging from her tent. She wore a baggy, pink robe with white accents that went down to her knees, and her lavender hair was done up into a loose side ponytail. She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms above her head. Jaco began to make his way over to her, his arms still crossed as he walked.

"Good morning, Jaco. How was your night?" Bulma asked.

"Fine. No sign of the turtle yet," he replied.

"Hmm. It's still early yet. He'll be here. Where's Vegeta at?"

Jaco didn't say a word, but pointed over to his right. Vegeta, still sound asleep, was lying on his back with his arms behind his head. Sitting below the stone ledge lay the remnants of his Saiya-jin armor. The only clothing that remained was his dark blue body suit, white gloves, and white boots.

"I was wondering when he'd get rid of that trashed armor," Bulma said. She turned back toward her tent and knelt down at the entrance. "Are you hungry Jaco? I was going to fix myself something to eat while we wait,"

"Do you have any milk?" he asked.

"Milk? Sure. Is there anything else you'd like?" Bulma replied.

"No. My species has a very specific diet and this liquid you call milk is the closest thing I can get to food on my home planet,"

Bulma gave Jaco a look of confusion. "That's it? Wow, you're no fun. How much milk would you like?"

"Just a single glass will do," Jaco said.

"So let me get this straight. You can fight, walk for miles, stay awake most of the night and only want a single glass of milk?" Bulma asked.

"To be fair I did get a full night's sleep," Jaco said.

"You said you'd keep watch all night!" Bulma yelled.

"I did," Jaco replied. "My species also only requires thirty minutes of sleep each night,"

Bulma's eyes widened in shock. She tried to have a comeback for Jaco's statement, but couldn't find words. She crawled into her tent and returned a few moments later with an orange, granola bar, and a glass of milk. "Here," she said as she handed the glass to the pale blue alien. He grasped the glass and took a small sip. He eyed the liquid for a second and then looked at Bulma. "It'll do,"

"It better!" she shouted with annoyance. She stood and looked over Jaco's shoulder to see Vegeta was still sound asleep. "I swear. He wakes up to the most subtle movement, but we can yell all morning and he won't wake up.

Jaco took a sip of his milk. "You mean _you _can yell,"

Bulma shot him a short glare before walking down toward the sea. The blue-green water gently lapped at the shore line, leaving only foam and wet, brown sand as it receded back into the sea. She took a deep breath and felt refreshed within the salty, sea air. "Ahh. Its beautiful out here," she said. She took a few steps closer towards the water and let the water run over her feet. Jaco soon joined her and stood beside her, still with his glass of milk in hand. "There he is," he said.

Bulma squinted her eyes but couldn't make much out. "Where? I don't see anyone,"

Jaco pointed toward the horizon where a very faint grey shadow could be made out. Bulma squinted again. "That doesn't look like a turtle to me,"

"That's because there's more than just a turtle on its way," Vegeta said from behind them. Startled, Bulma jumped and fell forward. She managed to catch her fall by placing her hands out in front of her. She landed with a small splash, but quickly returned to her feet. "Hey you! You can't just keep sneaking up on people like that!" she shouted. "Look! I'm all wet now!" Vegeta didn't say anything in reply. Instead, he just shifted his eyes from Bulma to the approaching silhouette on the horizon.

Bulma began brushing the wet sand off of her robe and looked up toward the horizon at their approaching visitor. As the silhouette grew closer, she could make out the figure of a man who seemingly floated across the water towards them. "He's strong," Jaco said. Vegeta turned his head slightly toward the alien, interested. "And how is that something you would know?"

Without taking his eyes off the approaching man, Jaco explained. "I can sense his combat strength. I don't need tools like you primitive species. Part of my training as a patrolman was to learn to sense combat strength,"

"You're bluffing. There's no way thats possible," Vegeta replied, incredulously.

"Maybe to you its impossible," Jaco said, cooly.

Vegeta turned toward Jaco and shifted his body into a power up stance. "I've had just about enough of you, spaceman!"

Bulma turned to Vegeta. "Will you shut it! If this guy hears you two fighting like this, he'll never give us his Dragon Ball!" Vegeta glanced over toward Bulma, annoyed, and backed off. He scowled and turned his back to break eye contact with the lavender-haired girl. Bulma turned back toward the sea and could finally make out the features of the approaching figure.

He was a relatively short, bald man with a long white mustache and beard, and red rimmed sunglasses. He wore an orange Hawaiian shirt with khaki shorts, and a glimmering Dragon Ball around his neck. As he grew closer, the group could see he was riding on top of the turtle that they had rescued the day before. Vegeta turned his attention back towards the shoreline as the old man and turtle finally reached the beach.

The turtle looked up at the old man. "There's the one that carried me to the beach yesterday," The old man hoped off of the turtle and steadied himself with the large wooden cane he carried with him. The old man surveyed the three carefully before speaking.

"So, he's the one that you promised the Dragon Ball to?" he asked and pointed to Jaco. The turtle nodded.

"Hey! What about me?!" Bulma shouted. "I was the one that swerved out of the way! I saved your life!" The old man walked up to Bulma and began to look her up and down. "So you say you saved his life?" he asked. "What do you say, turtle?"

The turtle pointed his fin at Jaco. "He was the one who carried me to the beach,"

"You ungrateful turtle!" Bulma yelled, with her fists clenched at her sides. "I can't believe you!"

Roshi turned, looked toward the sea, and began to stroke his long, white beard. "Hmm. It sounds like we have a problem,"

"Enough with these games!" Vegeta shouted as he began to walk toward Bulma. "We've performed the task required for the Dragon Ball, now hand it over!" Roshi turned toward Vegeta and poked Vegeta in the chest with his cane. "I don't think a powerful object like this Dragon Ball belongs in the hands of.." Roshi was cut off as Vegeta knocked his cane away. He raised an index finger toward Roshi's face. "Now you listen here, old man! Hand over the Dragon Ball or be destroyed!"

"Vegeta!" Bulma and Jaco yelled simultaneously.

Roshi laughed to himself. "You've got a lot of fire, boy. I like that. I suppose I could be persuaded to change my mind," He ignored Vegeta's threats and turned around toward Bulma. "For instance...if you were to let me see your underwear.."

Bulma raised her hands up to her mouth and blushed. "What?"

"Master!" the turtle yelled.

"You cannot be serious!" Bulma shouted. The old man and turtle argued in front of her while she contemplated what to do next.

_"Don't you have any decency, Bulma? How could you do that? But then again...we do need his Dragon Ball,"_

Bulma reached for her robe, her hands shaking slightly. _"Ok, Bulma, just one quick flash and the next Dragon Ball will be yours,"_

Roshi realized what was about to transpire and stopped arguing with the turtle. Still blushing, Bulma took a deep breath. "I can't believe this is happening," She closed her eyes, and lifted up her robe to expose her underwear. Blood spurted from Roshi's nose and he let out a yell. "Oh my!"

"There! Happy?" Bulma said, as she lowered her robe. "Oh! It's yours! It's yours!" Roshi grabbed the Dragon Ball from around his neck and tossed it to Bulma. She juggled it for a moment before it came to a rest in her palms. "Wow! The One-Star Dragon Ball!" she said to herself.

"Are we through here?" Vegeta asked. He placed his right fist on his hip and walked back toward their camp. "For once, he's right. We should get a move on to the next Dragon Ball. I checked the radar last night and the next one should be in a town not too far from here," Bulma began walking toward the camp but turned to see Jaco still standing by the turtle and recovering old man. "Come on, Jaco. Lets get a move on,"

"I'll be there shortly," Jaco replied.

Bulma shrugged and continued on toward their camp.

* * *

><p>Bulma stared down intently at her Dragon Radar as she walked. She was flanked by Vegeta on her left and Jaco on her right as they entered the limits of a small seaside town. Jaco stopped walking. "Something isn't right here," Bulma looked up from the radar, stood still and let out a small gasp. "Oh wow!"<p>

There was a slight haze emanating from the town from what looked to be fresh destruction. There were holes blasted in the brick buildings, that lined the main street that extended out in front of the group. Residents were strewn all across the street, surveying the damage and retrieving lost belongings. Vegeta, Bulma and Jaco continued into the town as they followed the little blips on the Dragon Radar screen.

The signals led down a side street and toward a decimated house thats remains stood about a half mile from the town's main area. The midday sunlight lit up the inside of the house and revealed its scorched innards. As they drew closer to the signal, a woman with medium length black hair, and a long red robe appeared. She slowly meandered through the wreckage, looking for what remained of her belongings.

"The signal is coming from that house," Bulma said.

"Or whats left of it anyway," Jaco added. The group continued up to the house while the woman overturned bricks and pieces of plaster. The sound of the groups footsteps over rocks alerted the woman of their presence. She whipped her head around and upon catching sight of the group, began immediately backing away.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!"

"Its ok! We're not here to hurt you," Bulma began. "My name is Bulma. This is Jaco, and Vegeta," she said, motioning to her companions. Jaco stepped forward from the group and saluted the woman. "Jaco, the Galactic Patrolman at your service!" The alien stretched his arms out, spun around twice, knelt, placed his right hand on the ground and shot it back up toward the sky where he held the pose for a few moments. Bulma, Vegeta and the woman all looked equally confused at the strange dance. Jaco looked around at Bulma and Vegeta and noticed the strange look they were giving him. He quickly straightened his posture, placed his hands in a prayer formation and bowed. "At your service,"

"Don't mind him," Bulma continued. "As I said before, we're not here to harm you. We're just travelers on a quest to find these objects called Dragon Balls. Ever heard of them?"

The woman shook her head timidly. "No. I'm afraid I haven't,"

Bulma reached into the dark blue pouch that she kept the Dragon Balls in, pulled out the Four-Star ball, and held it up in her right hand. "These are Dragon Balls. There are seven in all," She began walking toward the woman and held up the Dragon Radar in her left hand. "This little device here tracks them and led us to your town,"

The woman eased her guard a bit and began rummaged in her robe pocket for a moment until she a produced a shiny, orange Dragon Ball with six red stars. "I found it years ago on the beach. Theres something strange about this stone. It has this energy thats unlike anything i've ever felt before. Thats why I took it home with me," The woman looked up from the ball. "Why are you collecting them exactly?"

Bulma didn't want to divulge their secrets to anyone else so she was forced to improvise. "Well...uh...my grandfather was a stone collector and introduced me to them when I was a little girl. He passed away a few years ago and they remind me of our time together,"

The woman looked down at the ball and then back up to Bulma. "Thats a beautiful story," the woman began.

_"Yes! She's buying it!" _Bulma's inner monologue cheered. On the outside, she continued her charade by placing the ball back in her blue bag and lowering her head.

"But I've just become too attached to it," the woman finished.

Bulma looked up and scrambled to think of what to do next. "Is there anything we can do? Anything at all?"

The woman looked down at the ball again and pursed her lips. "Well. There may be one thing,"

"Name it!" Bulma shouted excitedly. The woman looked up and placed the ball back into her robe pocket. "There is this shapeshifting monster known as Oolong the Terrible. He appears to us as a giant, purple suit of armor, but i've heard rumors he has other forms. He comes down from the hills and, as you can see, ravages our town. If you could somehow defeat him, then I supposed I could part with this...Dragon Ball? Is that what you call it?"

"Yes!" Bulma exclaimed. She turned toward Jaco and Vegeta who were staring wearily at each other behind her. "We could do that couldn't we guys?!"

"Whatever," Vegeta replied.

Bulma turned back toward the black-haired woman and smiled. "We'd be happy to,"

The woman gave her a small smile. "I wish you luck. You seem very confident for being so young. Not even our best defenses could stop this monster. You can see the devastation for yourself,"

"We'll be fine! Now...where does this Oolong the Terrible stay when he's not demolishing your town?" Bulma asked.

The woman pointed toward a hazy, black object on the side of the hills that rose on the other edge of the town. "That cave there,"

"We're on it! We'll be back before sundown!" Bulma assured her. The woman gave her another small smile. "I do hope so," The woman turned and began rummaging through her belongings once again.

* * *

><p>The sunlight beat down as it sat in between its apex and the horizon. Jaco, Vegeta, and Bulma had crossed the small damaged town and made their way up through the hills to the entrance of Oolong the Terrible's cave. Although she was flanked by both Jaco and Vegeta, Bulma couldn't help but shake as they closed in on their target. Her previously cavalier attitude had been replaced by one of fear.<p>

"Are you certain either of you can beat this guy? You saw what he did to that town down there," Bulma asked.

Vegeta snorted. "I won't even break a sweat. There's nothing on this worthless planet that can defeat me,"

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Jaco replied.

Vegeta stopped grabbed Jaco's shirt. "Once this is all over, i'll deal with you! You'll see the true power of the prince of all Saiya-jins!"

Jaco grabbed Vegeta's wrist and removed it from his shirt. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into,"

Vegeta lunged toward Jaco. "Why you - " But he was cut off by Bulma aiming her pistol at him yet again. "Knock it off Vegeta!" she said boldly. "We're never going to collect the Dragon Balls if we're constantly at each others throats!"

Vegeta yelledin frustration at the top of his lungs and turned around to face the blackness of the cave. A few seconds later, the ground began to rumble and rocks fell from the cave's ceiling. The blackness was lit up by bursts of fire and stomping footsteps. Bulma fell to her knees and dropped her pistol. Her hands covered her mouth as let out a muted cry. Vegeta and Jaco stood in front of her facing the incoming monster.

Fire, rumbling and clanking continued from the depths of the cave. A fireball shot forth from the blackness towards the group. Jaco jumped in front of Vegeta, extended his arm and beat the fireball back with an invisible blast of energy.

"Stay out of my way!" Vegeta shouted. He shoved Jaco away with his left hand and continued advancing forward. Jaco growled and watched as Vegeta disappeared into the darkness. All of a sudden, the rumbling and clanking stopped. The short silence was broken with a flash of light and the sound of crunching metal. A large purple suit of armor slid out of the black and came to a rest at Jaco's feet.

Bulma looked out from behind Jaco and saw the purple suit of armor struggling to get up. Jaco placed his boot on the helmet of the armor and forced it back to the ground. Vegeta appeared out of the darkness pulling his right glove down tighter onto his fist. "I'm finishing this, spaceman! Stand back or i'll destroy you both," He raised his hand in front of him and formed a ball of energy in his palm.

The suit of armor managed to roll over and began waving its hands franticly. "Whoa, whoa! Calm down with the fireworks!" With a puff of smoke, the purple suit of armor disappeared and a small pig in a military uniform and hat sat in its place. "I give up, I give up! Take whatever you want!"

Vegeta lowered his hand and scowled as he began walking over to Jaco and the pig. "So you're Oolong 'the Terrible'?" Jaco asked. The pig stood and began to dust himself off. He rubbed the back of his head and began to laugh nervously. "Well, the Terrible part might be a bit of an exaggeration,"

Before Jaco or Bulma could ask anything else, Vegeta punched the pig in the stomach, slamming him into the cave wall and separating him from consciousness.

"Vegeta!" Bulma and Jaco shouted. The Saiya-jin picked up the unconscious pig and placed his body under his right arm. "Lets go," he said as he began walking out of the cave. Jaco and Bulma looked at each other and followed his lead out of the cave and back down the hill.

* * *

><p>Vegeta tossed the pig on the ground at the feet of the black-haired woman that had promised them her Dragon Ball. "Here. Now hand over the Dragon Ball!"<p>

"What is this?" the woman asked.

"That's Oolong the Terrible," Jaco said.

"You're mistaken. Oolong the Terrible is a gigantic purple suit of armor," she replied.

"You said yourself that he's a shapeshifter," Bulma began. "We saw him transform from the suit of armor into this pig,"

The woman looked at the ground skeptically. "What if we made him transform to show you?" Bulma asked. "Would you believe us then?" The woman nodded. Vegeta walked over to the pig and kicked him in stomach. "Wake up!"

The pig rolled over onto its back and coughed. He looked up into the sky with half lidded eyes and saw Vegeta, Jaco, and Bulma staring back at him. The pig immediately was sent into a panic and began scrambling to stand up. "W-w-where am I?!" he stammered.

"You're in the town you destroyed!" Bulma shouted. "Look at what you did to all of these people! And for what?!"

The pig quickly transformed into a large, brown pterodactyl and attempted to fly away, but was swiftly knocked out of the sky by Jaco. Upon hitting the ground, the pterodactyl once transformed back into his pig form. Jaco began advancing toward the dazed pig. "Now. Transform into that suit of armor so we can show this woman this town no longer has to fear you,"

Realizing defeat, the pig sighed and in a puff of smoke, a giant, purple suit of armor stood in his place. "See?" Bulma said. "I told you we got him!" Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Vegeta slowly advancing. The Saiya-jin walked past her toward the suit or armor. "Vegeta? What are you doing?"

Without answering, he slammed his right fist into the suit of armor's stomach. The punch rocketed the suit of armor out over the town before landing distantly into the ocean. "Was that necessary, Vegeta?!" Bulma yelled. Vegeta scowled at her, crossed his arms and turned his back to her.

The black-haired woman stood in shock at the spectacle that had just unfolded in front of her. Bulma turned her attention from the standoffish Saiya-jin to the woman. "Well, we told you we'd get rid of him!" she said with a smile and a short laugh.

The woman let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Thank you so much," she said. She reached into her pocket and grabbed the Six-Star Dragon Ball. She walked over to Bulma and placed it in her hands. "Here is your reward,"

"No, thank you!" Bulma replied happily. "Glad we could help!"

The jubilation was soon interrupted with a loud growling sound coming. Bulma turned to her right and saw Vegeta standing with a slight look of embarrassment on his face; although he tried to hide it. Bulma laughed. "Are you hungry, Vegeta?" His stomach let out another loud roar. The prince grabbed his stomach and began walking away. "Leave me alone,"

Jaco shook his head and followed the Saiya-jin away from the wrecked home. Bulma looked back toward the woman "I guess we should be on our way," The woman walked over to the lavender-haired girl, grabbed Bulma's hands and smiled. "I don't think we can ever repay you. I wish you luck on your journey, and please, take care of yourselves,"

Bulma smiled back. "We will," The woman let go of Bulma's hands and backed away. Bulma gave her a short wave and raced off toward Vegeta and Jaco. "Hey! Wait for me! How can you leave a girl alone like that?!"

* * *

><p><em>Notes: And there you have it! I really hope you enjoyed it! I'm hoping to keep up with these longer chapters and events rather than shorter chapters like chapter two but we'll see what the action calls for. The gang is now in possession of five of the seven Dragon Balls! Bulma and Vegeta are closing in on their respective wishes and Jaco is...well...along for the ride. The next chapter will have the first big eventturning point of the series! I'm excited to finally be getting to it! Thanks again for reading/reviewing/following, what have you!_


	4. and Into the Fire - Fry-Pan Mountain

_Note: A bit longer of a time between chapters than I had anticipated, but an update nonetheless! Thanks again, for reading! For those of you worried if Goku is going to show up or not, all I can say is keep reading. It may be in a way you don't expect. Anyway...on with the chapter._

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><p><strong>Chapter 4: ...and Into the Fire. Fry-Pan Mountain.<strong>

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><p>The sky ahead was painted orange. Plumes of smoke and purple clouds billowed over the steep hill that Vegeta, Bulma and Jaco were slowly approaching the top of. Jaco stopped walking, lowered his head and furrowed his brow. "Wait,"<p>

Bulma looked up from her radar and turned back toward Jaco. "C'mon, Jaco, this steep hill is making me tired! The next Dragon Ball looks to be somewhere over this ridge! Lets get a move on before dark!"

"Have you not noticed what lies ahead?" Jaco asked. Bulma craned her head back toward the top of the hill and saw the brilliant orange tinge to the previously blue sky. "Whoa!" she took a few steps backward. "W-why does the sky look like that?"

"There is a great power in that direction. We should approach with caution," Jaco warned.

"Ha! Approach with caution," Vegeta scoffed. "You weaklings can stay back if you'd like.." Vegeta walked up to Bulma and snatched the radar from her hand. "..but I'm going to collect the Dragon Ball myself,"

"Vegeta!" Bulma screamed. She ran toward the Saiya-jin and grabbed his shoulder. "You give me that radar back right now!"

The prince slapped her hand off of his shoulder; making her stumble backwards. She caught her balance and grabbed the hand he had slapped. She began to massage it slowly while she watched Vegeta continue up the hill without a word. Jaco gritted his teeth and began following Vegeta up the hill. Bulma watched as Jaco walked past her. "B-b-but.." was all that she could muster in an attempt to stop him. She let out a sigh and trudged up the hill behind Jaco.

Bulma glanced up toward Vegeta and saw him standing at the top of the hill with his arms resting at his sides. Jaco and Bulma soon joined him at the top. As soon as they cleared the apex of the hill, the wind picked up and blew Bulma's hair wildly. Once she was able to corral her lavender locks, she stared down in awe at the scene that unfolded in the distance.

A wild inferno engulfed a mountain out in the distance. Flames licked the sky and danced around at the peak, which was home to a stone castle. Bulma walked over to Vegeta and snatched her Dragon Radar out of his left hand. She clicked the small button on top and the radar came to life. A yellow blip appeared on a green background and pulsed as Bulma honed in on its true location.

The lavender-haired girl looked up and let out a sigh of disappointment. "The Dragon Ball... is in that castle," she said softly. "What do we do now?"

Vegeta laughed. "Who knew you'd give up so easily," He ripped the radar from Bulma's hand again. "I'll fly in and grab it myself," The Saiya-jin hovered off the ground for a moment, ready to take off for the castle.

"Y-you...you can fly?" Bulma stammered.

"You won't be able to make it in," Jaco said.

Vegeta hovered over to the blue alien. "You doubt me, spaceman?"

Jaco took a step toward Vegeta and stopped inches from the prince's face. "Yes. I do," Jaco turned and grasped his arms behind his back as he walked away. "The temperature of that inferno is too high. Even for you,"

"I'll show you, spaceman!" Vegeta scowled. A thin layer of energy enveloped the Saiya-jin. "RRRAH!" Vegeta took off toward the mountain, leaving Jaco and Bulma at the top of the hill.

Jaco placed his thumb and forefinger between his eyes and sighed. "He is so tiresome," He walked over to Bulma and waved his arm in a 'come along' motion. "Hop on,"

"What? Hop on what?" she asked.

"My back. We're following him," Jaco replied.

"I-I don't understand," Bulma said, confused as she obliged his request. She draped her arms around his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his waist. Once she got herself settled, Jaco took a deep breath and began to hover off the ground.

"Whoa! Wait! Wait!" Bulma shouted in fear as she flailed her arms. Jaco returned to the ground and Bulma fell off his back. She got up to one knee and began breathing heavily as if she was having a panic attack.

"If you want this Dragon Ball, you're going to have to trust me," Jaco said as he offered her a hand to help her up.

Bulma grabbed the alien's gloved hand and returned to her feet. She brushed her self off and unexpectedly exploded with anger. "You're telling me we could've flown all this time instead of spending days walking!"

Jaco stared silently at her for a moment before speaking up. "I'm really regretting coming along with you on this quest," he deadpanned.

Bulma was taken aback for a moment. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

The pale, blue alien sighed again and turned again toward the flaming mountain. "Just hop on my back,"

Again, Bulma settled herself on Jaco's back and this time she allowed him to lift off. She buried her head into his right shoulder and closed her eyes as he began to pick up speed toward the mountain. The faster Jaco went, the tighter Bulma hung on. "Can you please loosen your grip a little bit?" Jaco choked. "You're making it hard to breathe,"

"Oh i'm sorry!" Bulma screamed in his ear. "I've never flown on someone's back before!"

"Please don't yell in my ear," Jaco replied. Bulma let out a frustrated growl and buried her head back into his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Vegeta stared at the fire engulfed mountain from a distance. The flames were indeed too hot for him to penetrate and reach the castle after all. He clutched the Dragon Radar in his right hand tightly, but not hard enough to crush it. The Saiya-jin was frustrated with his inability to complete his mission as well as Jaco being right all along. He clenched his teeth and tried another time to breach the flames but was rebuffed yet again by the heat. For all of the strength he possessed, his body still couldn't take the high temperature of a fire that looked to have been raging for a long, long time.<p>

As he backed away from the flames yet again, a crack of energy rang out behind him. Jaco had arrived with Bulma still clinging to him for dear life. "It's just as I expected," Jaco said as he watched the fire dance around in front of him.

"Shut up," Vegeta said through gritted teeth. "I don't have time for this right now!" He again shot off recklessly toward the flames but just as every time before, he was forced to retreat,"

While Jaco and Vegeta stared into the seemingly impenetrable object in front of them, Bulma's eyes moved toward the ground where she could make out three human shaped objects. One at least twice the size of the next largest, and one tiny one. "Hey! It looks like there are people down there," she said.

Jaco and Vegeta both looked down and they too saw the small group. "That must be where that large power I felt earlier is,"

Vegeta shifted his eyes toward Jaco and smiled. "Well, it looks like we should drop in," Before Jaco could reply, the Saiya-jin prince was already on his decent toward the new arrivals so he too made his way toward the ground.

* * *

><p>The sound of boots landing on the ground interrupted the small group's conversation. They turned to see Vegeta, standing with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face, Jaco, and Bulma climbing back down to Earth. The moment her feet touched the ground she laid on her stomach with her arms outstretched as if she was hugging the ground.<p>

A giant man with a golden horned helmet, red cloth tied around his shoulders, and purple armor stepped forward. "What business do you have here?" he bellowed.

"I could ask you the same thing," Vegeta said as he began to walk toward the group. A little girl with black hair, black eyes and wearing a purple and gold bikini ran behind the giant's leg and cowered. "There's only one reason you would ever be in a place like this and I don't recommend getting in my way,"

The giant removed an ax he was carrying on his back and held it at his side. "I have no idea what you are talking about. This is my village and as far as i'm concerned, you're an intruder,"

"Hmph. Some village," Vegeta scoffed. "Apparently you couldn't even protect it from a little fire let alone protect it from an intruder,"

"How dare you come to my land and talk to me like that!" the giant yelled, and reared his ax behind his head in preparation to strike. Vegeta lowered himself into a fighting stance and prepared to dodge the blow.

"Stop!" a voice rang out from behind the giant. The giant stopped mid swipe and dropped the ax to the ground. Vegeta rose from his stance and watched as Master Roshi appeared next to the giant.

"What?! What are you doing here, old man?!" Vegeta exclaimed; raising a fist.

"Heh, heh. Calm down. You see, the Ox-King and his daughter Chi-Chi here have asked my assistance in quelling this fire,"

Jaco walked next to Vegeta and crossed his arms. "May I ask how you plan on doing that? Vegeta already tried to make it through and its simply too hot,"

The old man laughed. "You tried to go through the flames? I'm not here to go through the flames. I'm here to put them out,"

"What?!" Vegeta and Jaco exclaimed simultaneously.

Roshi walked closer to the flaming mountain and stared intently into the fire. He unbuttoned his orange Hawaiian shirt and threw it behind him. "I'd advise you all to stand back,"

The Ox-King and the little black-haired girl retreated back near Bulma, who was sitting on the ground cautiously watching the action unfold. Jaco and Vegeta both stood their ground with arms crossed as Roshi lowered himself into a fighting stance.

Bulma looked up at the enormous Ox-King. "Excuse me, sir. If you don't mind me asking, how did this whole fire come to be? I mean, this doesn't seem like a natural fire,"

Still staring intently at the flames, the Ox-King explained the legend of Fry-Pan Mountain. "Years ago, this was called Pleasant Mountain and I was the king of a thriving village. But about ten years ago, a fire spirit fell from the heavens and transformed this mountain into an eternal inferno,"

Bulma looked toward the mountain; awestruck. The Ox-King continued his story. "Shortly after the fire started, people began to leave my village in search of a more...habitable place to live. My daughter, Chi-Chi, and I used to live in the castle on top of the mountain but were forced to move down to the village shortly after the fire started. Over the years it has grown hotter and hotter until we simply couldn't take it anymore. So, I decided to enlist the help of my old martial arts master to extinguish the flames once and for all,"

"Do you think he'll be able to do it? I mean, a mountain engulfed in flames is a lot to ask of one old man," Bulma said.

"He's the strongest being on this planet," the Ox-King replied. "He's our last hope. If he can't do it, then we'll be forced to leave,"

Bulma looked away from the Ox-King and back toward the silhouettes of Vegeta, Jaco and Roshi standing a dozen yards in front of her. The old turtle hermit still stood in a lowered stance, facing the mountain. The old man clenched his fists and a blue light began to emanate slowly from his body. Vegeta and Jaco watched intently as the waves began to increase in speed and dissipate further and further from his body.

All of a sudden, the old man began shutter and his muscles tripled in size. Vegeta and Jaco opened their mouths slightly in shock at the old man's transformation.

"His combat strength is the strongest i've ever felt on this planet," Jaco said in amazement. "Incredible. It just keeps increasing,"

Master Roshi extended two cupped hands out in front of his body and began to concentrate his energy into a single point in between his hands. "Ka...me..."

"The old master is using his Kamehameha technique!" the Ox-King said excitedly. "He's going to do it!"

Roshi twisted slightly to his left and continued the technique. "Ha...me..." Light blue energy sprang to life within his cupped hands and slowly began to grow until he finally thrust his hands forward and unleashed the energy toward the mountain. "HAAAAAAA!"

The blast erupted from his hands and shot off toward the mountain. The brightness of the attack cancelled out any other light sources and basked the surrounding area in a bluish white light. Bulma, and Chi-Chi both let out screams while the Ox-King, Jaco, and Vegeta all raised an arm to shield their eyes from the debris that the blast kicked up all around them. With an incredible crash, the blast connected with the mountain and blinded the spectators from the scene in front of them. The force of the impact caused Vegeta and Jaco to take a few steps backward, while the Ox-King shielded Chi-Chi and Bulma from the blinding light and debris.

When the winds finally died down, and debris stopped flying, Vegeta and Jaco lowered their arms. "I-it's gone," Jaco stammered.

_"Impossible!" _Vegeta thought.

Roshi sat on the ground with his back to the destruction, panting heavily. The Ox-King turned back toward his mountain home to see if his plan had worked but was met by a pile of rubble. "Master! You didn't just put out the fire...you blew up the mountain!"

Master Roshi turned looked back and saw bits of mountain and dust still raining down behind him. "Well, heh heh. Not too bad for an old timer. I guess I'm not as rusty as I thought I was,"

The Ox-King, Chi-Chi and Bulma walked over toward the Turtle Hermit to further survey the damage. "Well, at least there was minimal damage to the village," the Ox-King said. "I suppose we can rebuild, right, Chi-Chi?"

The little girl looked up to her father and smiled. "Sure! And maybe some of the villagers will move back!" The Ox-King placed a large hand on his daughters head and smiled.

"Excuse me, Mr. Ox-King," Bulma began. The Ox-King turned his attention to the lavender-haired girl. "The reason we came to your village was because my Dragon Radar told us there was a Dragon Ball in your castle,"

"This is true," the Ox-King replied. "I did have one in my possession. That was until my castle was destroyed.."

Bulma walked over to Vegeta and grabbed the Dragon Radar that Vegeta had been holding on to all throughout the fireworks. She clicked the top button and the machine beeped to life. "Hmm. It looks like the Dragon Ball survived the blast, but, its buried under all the rubble,"

"No matter. The old man here did us a favor," Vegeta said with a smirk. Before he could continue, Bulma placed a finger on his chest and shot a death glare straight into his eyes. "Vegeta. Not. Now," she said through gritted teeth.

Vegeta smiled. "Well, looks like you have a little fight in you after all. Have it your way," The Saiya-jin walked away from the lavender-haired girl and sat alone a few yards away on one of the larger pieces of the blown up mountain. Bulma blinked in amazement at how easily Vegeta stood down to her. _"Well thats never happened before," _she thought. She looked over to the prince and saw him gazing up into the dusk sky.

_"Soon. The Dragon Balls will be gathered and i'll be granted my wish of immortality and then I'll turn Frieza and his men to ashes. I will have my revenge," _Vegeta thought as he sat alone. He glanced over at Jaco, and Bulma as they lifted bits of rubble in their search for the next Dragon Ball. _"They have no idea what is in store for them in just a few short days," _He grinned to himself as he plotted the Earth's destruction, but, the more the prince thought, the more he became conflicted with himself.

* * *

><p><em>Bulma walked over and knelt down next to him. "I brought you here so you wouldn't die alone out there. I think a thank you is in order," she said, annoyed.<em>

_"I don't need your help!" Vegeta yelled before grabbing his head again. Bulma dropped a plate of stew on his lap. "Here. Eat this,"_

* * *

><p><em>"So, you heard I was a threat?" And what does someone like you plan to do about it?" <em>

_Jaco brushed Bulma aside and began walking toward Vegeta. The two stopped a few feet away from one another. Jaco pointed at himself with his thumb. "I'm going to stop you,"_

* * *

><p>"Hey! I found it!" Jaco shouted. Vegeta turned and saw Jaco holding a Dragon Ball over his head in his right hand. Through the clearing smoke, the dying sunlight managed to softly glimmer against the orange sphere. Vegeta looked down at the dusty ground and let out a gritty sigh.<p>

Bulma ran up to the pale, blue alien and received the sixth Dragon Ball for her collection. "Wow! The seven-star ball! Only one more to go!" she shouted excitedly. She placed the Dragon Ball into the ever expanding blue pouch that was against her hip. She once again turned on her Dragon Radar and clicked it a few times until it honed in on the final piece to their puzzle. "Wow! It looks like the last Dragon Ball isn't too far from here! We should be able to get it tomorrow!"

"Well, its getting late and it sounds like you all need a place to stay for the night," the Ox-King spoke up. "If you'd like, you may stay the night in my village before embarking on your next journey,"

"Really?! Thank you Ox-King! It'll be great to sleep in a bed for once! I swear, I can't get any beauty sleep out here in the wild,"

"If need be, you can always stay with me tonight," Master Roshi said. "I'll, uh, keep you safe from all of these shady characters,"

"Master!" Ox-King shouted.

Bulma recoiled in horror at the perverted old man while Jaco just placed a thumb and forefinger between his eyes and sighed.

* * *

><p>Once the dust and debris had finally cleared from the air, the moon silently lit the Ox-King's village. Angled shadows from the small houses stained the grass below with the occasional lightning bug dancing through the soft summer breeze.<p>

"We're finally here," a high pitched voice whispered. "You both better not mess this up!"

"Yes, Emperor Pilaf," two other voices said in unison.

Out of the shadows appeared three figures. One was a short blue creature with a red and blue hat, puffy white collar, and long green shirt. The second was a tall, black-haired woman in a dark blue military uniform, and the last was a small dog wearing a ninja outfit.

The small blue creature paced back and forth in front of the other two. "Now, Shu, all you have to do is sneak through this window and steal the conveniently collected Dragon Balls," The dog nodded slowly in agreement. "Mai, I need you to keep look out for anyone looking to disrupt us," The black-haired woman nodded silently as well. "And then I'll finally have my wish as ruler of the world!" he whispered excitedly.

Shu carefully climbed through the window and landed silently, on all fours, on the floor. He looked up to see Bulma quietly snoring on a bed across the room. With his enhanced night vision, he quickly located the bag containing the six Dragon Balls and carefully slung it over his shoulder. The dog tiptoed up to the window and handed the bag up the blue creature.

Right as he handed the bag off, the Four-Star Dragon Ball fell from the bag and clacked loudly on the floor. Shu quickly snagged the ball and shot off into a dark corner of the room. Bulma slowly sat up, her eyes still half lidded. She blinked a couple times and fell back into her pillows.

Shu waited a few minutes as he waited to be sure she was asleep before exiting the room and meeting back with his partners. "Here it is, Emperor Pilaf. The final ball,"

The blue creature grabbed the Four-Star ball and let it rest in his small hands. "Yes! Finally! After all this time! I, Emperor Pilaf will be ruler of the world!"

* * *

><p><em>Notes: All seven Dragon Balls in one place! Emperor Pilaf has popped up to ruin our heroes' long journey, but surely Vegeta, and Jaco can save the day, right? The next chapter is already under way and i'd love to have it up soon! Thank you for readingreviewing/following!_


	5. The Mighty Dragon Awakens!

_Note: Thank you all again for reading! I'm very excited for this chapter! This will serve as the transition into the next phase of the Zenkai story. I hope you all are enjoying the ride._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5: The Mighty Dragon Awakens!<strong>

* * *

><p>Emperor Pilaf looked up from his newly acquired prize and motioned for Mai to hand him the blue bag filled with the remaining Dragon Balls. Pilaf dropped the Four-Star ball into the sack and flung it over his right shoulder. Without words, Pilaf pointed toward a debris-free area near the decimated mountain that he deemed suitable for awakening the eternal dragon. The little, blue creature scampered off toward the clearing and was closely followed by his henchmen.<p>

Upon reaching the clearing, Pilaf dumped the Dragon Balls into a pile on the ground and placed his two small hands over them. A wide grin slowly creeped across his face as the moment he would awaken the dragon neared. "And now for the task at hand,"

Shu and Mai gulped behind him in anticipation for the dragons summoning. "Now," Pilaf began. He crouched a bit and clenched his hands into fists at his sides. "Eternal Dragon! Awaken, so you may grant me my wish!"

The seven magical objects below him began to pulse with light. The yellowish-white light pulsed slowly at first, but picked up speed as the seconds passed. As the balls became tiny strobe lights on the ground, the Earth beneath them began to quake under their immense power. Dark clouds rolled in from all directions of the sky and converged over the Dragon Balls, blotting out the moon and stars.

As the shaking grew, Bulma, Jaco, Vegeta, and the others were all awoken out of sound sleeps. As Bulma tried to get out of bed, her feet became tangled in her sheets causing her to face plant on the wooden bedroom floor. Upon reaching her feet, her first instinct was to grab the Dragon Balls and exit the small, rural home, but when she went to grab them, they were gone.

"W-where are the Dragon Balls?!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Where are my Dragon Balls?!" The lavender-haired girl thrashed about the room, pulling drawers out of a wooden desk and flipping over furniture, but to no avail.

Outside, the light intensified, causing Pilaf and his minions to shield their eyes and back away from the glowing spheres. Vegeta, Jaco, Master Roshi, and the Ox-King all met in the village's center in an attempt to find out what was going on.

"D'ya get many earthquakes out here," Roshi asked the Ox-King.

The giant shook his head. "Not at all, Master. This is strange,"

Bulma came racing out of her house, still in her pink nightgown, flailing her hands in the air. "The Dragon Balls! They're gone!"

"What?!" Vegeta and Jaco yelled simultaneously.

The quaking grew in strength and a bright, yellow light flashed behind the houses out near the destroyed mountain. With one, large, final quake, a beam of light shot up from the ground and began twisting towards the sky. The aftershock from the blast knocked Bulma off of her feet and onto the dirt of the village's center. She quickly rolled onto her back and watched with wide eyes as the light twisted and finally materialized into the eternal dragon. The dragon's serpentine body had green scaled skin with a yellow underbelly, four legs, the brown horns of a stag, two cat-fish like tentacles that protruded from its long face and two red glowing eyes.

"Someone has summoned the dragon!" Roshi shouted.

Vegeta clenched his teeth and roared as if in agony. "No one is getting their wish while I'm still standing!" A faint purple aura began to glow around the Saiya-jin prince as his anger rose. He shook his left fist in front of his face and bellowed "It will be the last time they cross me!" The Saiya-jin shot up into the air to gain a higher vantage point and saw where the Dragon was being summoned from. Vegeta screamed again at the top of his lungs and took off toward the dragon.

"This is bad," Jaco said. He too lifted off of the ground and took off toward the furious prince in an attempt to prevent any destruction he may cause.

"Master! What do we do now?!" the Ox-King asked.

Without a word, Master Roshi placed two fingers up to his mouth and whistled. "'Kinto'un!" A flying yellow cloud streaked over the horizon and made a screeching halt in front of the Turtle Hermit. "Quick, we must go now!"

* * *

><p>Pilaf, Mai, and Shu stood below the newly formed dragon with their mouths hanging open in amazement. They couldn't help but shake in fear as the mighty dragon above them growled and roared. Finally, the dragon spoke. "Who has awakened me from my slumber? Speak now!"<p>

The little, blue imp took a few steps backward in fear of the gigantic dragon that was towering over him. "Speak!" the dragon bellowed. "I'm growing impatient!" Pilaf's teeth chattered as he tried to compose himself. "I am Emperor Pilaf! And I wish to be..."

Before he could complete his wish, Vegeta touched down a short distance away from him. "And what do you think you're doing?" Vegeta growled.

Pilaf closed his eyes and smirked. "I'm about to become the ruler of this planet. So I think you should show me a little respect," he said. "Now go away, i'm busy," Pilaf made a 'shooing' motion with his hand and looked back up at the dragon. He took a deep breath to compose himself again and attempted his wish once more. "Mighty dragon! I wish to be ruler..."

"I wish for a pair of woman's underwear!" a voice cried out.

Pilaf, Vegeta, and Jaco, who had landed shortly after Vegeta, saw a yellow cloud streaking in front of the dragon with Master Roshi riding upon it.

"As you wish," the dragon obeyed. His red eyes lit up and a pair of woman's underwear fell from the sky and right into Roshi's face. "Farewell,"

A blinding yellow-white light engulfed the dragon as it dematerialized once again. The ground shook only lightly this time as the light drew itself into the seven Dragon Balls. The balls hovered up off of the ground and quickly shot up into the air. Vegeta, Jaco, and Pilaf watched as the balls rotated in the sky for a moment before each shooting off like comets across the night sky.

Sensing impending danger, Pilaf and his minions ran off into the surrounding wooded area as Vegeta and Jaco's eyes remained skyward. Once the light from the Dragon Balls had faded in the sky, the clouds receded and the group was once again left with a peaceful summer evening.

Vegeta shook with anger. His teeth clenched as well as his fists as he watched Roshi descend on his yellow cloud. The old master playfully waved the panties above his head with as he laughed.

"Vegeta..." Jaco began.

"I don't have TIME FOR THIS!" he screamed. The Saiya-jin turned to his left and slammed his fist into Jaco's pale, blue face. The patrolman fell backward and skidded across the ground in a daze. Vegeta pointed at Master Roshi as he reached the ground. "And as for you! You've been nothing but a nuisance! You've ruined everything!"

"Settle down now," Roshi said calmly. "Would you rather that little guy get his wish instead of some harmless underwear?" he asked, holding the underwear in front of him.

"I don't care about any wishes other than my own! It doesn't matter what anyone wishes for as long as I have mine!" Vegeta replied.

Master Roshi's expression turned more serious. "I think you should calm down. You're taking this a little hard,"

"Calm down?! I had my ticket to becoming the most powerful being in the universe and all you can say is to calm down!" Vegeta shot off toward the Turtle Hermit. "I'll end you!"

Roshi dropped the panties and slid into a fighting stance in an attempt to defend himself. Vegeta advanced quicker than the master had anticipated, but was still able to block the first blow with his forearm. Vegeta threw another punch, but it was casually brushed aside by Roshi's open palm. The Saiya-jin swept managed to sweep Roshi's legs out from under him, but Roshi popped back up before Vegeta could land a blow.

"Heh! Not too bad for an old timer!" Roshi said, playfully. Vegeta scowled and shot off once again toward him. The prince feinted with a looping left hook that Roshi looked to block before being slammed in the jaw with a right elbow. The master's could feel his jawbone weaken with the blow and soon found himself lying on the ground in front of the cold-hearted prince.

As Vegeta began to advance again, Jaco appeared behind him and placed him in a full nelson submission hold. "Vegeta! Stop this right now!"

The Saiya-jin refused to heed Jaco's plea. He snapped his body down and caused Jaco to fly over his head, releasing him from the hold in the process. Jaco crashed to the ground but immediately stood back up. Vegeta released a blast of yellow energy from his left palm toward Jaco, but the alien was able to bat it away. The deflected blast cascaded over Jaco's head and crashed a short distance away amongst the trees.

"Get out of the way, spaceman! I have no problem killing you too!" Vegeta roared, leaving his hand outstretched as he advanced.

Jaco looked at the ground and sighed. "Fine, Vegeta. Have it your way," He turned sideways and began walking away from the battle while Roshi struggled to stand. The old martial arts master grabbed his jaw with his right hand. He had never in his long life felt something, or someone with that much power. Vegeta's immense strength intrigued him, but frightened him a bit at the same time.

Roshi once again crouched into a fighting stance and motioned with his hand to 'come on'. Vegeta growled and launched himself recklessly at Master Roshi once again. The prince cocked back his right fist to attack, but before he could swing, an unseen shin connected with the left side of his head; separating him from consciousness.

Vegeta crashed into the ground and skidded headfirst until coming to a rest a few inches away from Roshi's feet. Jaco landed and smirked. "Its always the ones you don't see coming,"

Jaco walked up to the fallen prince and looked down. He latched a gloved hand onto Vegeta's tail and wrapped it around his wrist. With one mighty yank, Jaco removed the tail from Vegeta's lower back and threw into a pile of mountain debris. "There,"

"That was some great execution on that plan, Jaco. But how did you know he would fall for that?" Roshi asked.

"Simple," Jaco explained. "He's immensely powerful, but equally reckless. And the fact he's had some major head trauma recently," he added. Jaco pivoted his head to look behind him and saw Bulma, Chi-Chi, and the Ox-King running toward him and Master Roshi.

"Master! Master, are you alright?!" the Ox-King shouted with concern.

The Turtle Hermit brushed himself off and cracked his neck back and forth. "Yes. I'll be fine. He sure packs a wallop though,"

Bulma glanced over Jaco's shoulder to see Vegeta lying face first in the dirt. "Oh! What happened to Vegeta?" she asked.

Jaco turned to face the lavender-haired girl. "I did what I came along with you to do. I contained him," Jaco said. "Vegeta attacked Master Roshi after the Dragon Balls dispersed. He surely would have killed him if I hadn't knocked him out,"

"Oh.." Bulma trailed off. She looked down at the black-haired Saiya-jin and sighed. "Well...now what do we do?"

The group fell silent as they searched for a solution. Jaco placed his arms behind his back and began to pace back and forth. "He won't be as much of a threat now. I removed the main source of his power," Jaco began.

"His tail," Roshi said. "Thats why you removed it,"

Jaco nodded to the master. "Right. Now he should be no more powerful than I am. We'd both stand a decent chance now, Master Roshi,"

The prince quietly began stirring back to life on the ground. Bulma, and Chi-Chi both jumped behind the large frame of the Ox-King and peeked out from behind his left and right sides respectively. Vegeta shakily pushed himself up off of the ground and rolled onto his back. He stared up into the black sky and took a deep breath.

All of a sudden, his eyes widened with terror. His hands began to flail down at his waistline and at his sides. The Saiya-jin warrior stood slowly and felt around in a panic for his tail. "W-where...where is my tail?!" Vegeta wobbled for a moment before managing to catch his balance. With the loss of his tail, his equilibrium was temporarily thrown off.

Upon regaining his balance, Vegeta stood straight up with his arms at his sides with his fists clenched. "Which one of you removed my tail," he asked with quiet anger.

Jaco stepped forward and pointed at himself with his thumb. "I did. You're too unstable to be trusted with that kind of power, Vegeta,"

Vegeta looked down and brought a clenched fist up toward his face. "You fool! Do you have any idea what you've done?!"

_"After all that I've worked for. After all the years of intense training. What would my father say? Allowing myself to be bested by some inferior being," _Vegeta thought. He looked up at Jaco. "You've just given yourself a death sentence, spaceman!" Vegeta lunged at the alien with a flurry of punches and kicks, but Jaco was able to defend each and every one. Jaco returned with a stiff uppercut to Vegeta's stomach that hit right on target. The Saiya-jin prince grabbed his midsection and shouted in agony. He could feel his knees shake beneath him but managed to stay on his feet.

Vegeta staggered back for a moment and fired an energy blast at Jaco that missed its target by a few yards. The blast careened off to Jaco's right and crashed into remnants of the mountain. The Saiya-jin composed himself and shot back toward Jaco. Again, he met the pale, blue alien with a flurry of punches that were all defended. Vegeta snuck a kick under Jaco's guard and slammed his right shin into Jaco's side. Jaco bent sideways from the force of the blow and was met with a left cross to the chin.

Jaco fell backwards and skidded on his backside. Vegeta lunged at the fallen alien with his right fist cocked next to his ear. Jaco rolled to his right and watched as Vegeta punched nothing but air. Jaco backflipped back to his feet and upon touching down, he immediately shot back toward the prince. Jaco swung a right hook that connected with Vegeta's throat and finished with a wheel kick that landed flush with his chin.

The Saiya-jin landed flat on his back in a slight daze, holding his throat. "Boys, boys!" Roshi yelled. "Enough of this! This is a fight neither of you can win,"

Both Vegeta and Jaco watched, out of breath, as the old martial arts master walked toward them with his arms behind his back. "I know I shouldn't be doing this..." he began. Vegeta slowly made his way to his feet and wiped a small trail of blood that had begun to flow from his mouth. Master Roshi took a deep breath. "I know I shouldn't be doing this, but I have two new students coming to my island for training in just two short days. Perhaps you both would join us," The old master whistled and his yellow cloud shot down from the heavens once again. He jumped upon it and began to ascend into the sky slowly. "I think it could be beneficial for us all. Until then!" The cloud took off at break neck speed and disappeared into the night sky.

Vegeta and Jaco both eyed each other wearily for a moment before Jaco spoke. "Well? Where else are you going to go?"

For the first time since he crash landed on Earth, Vegeta was forced to think about his immediate future. He looked down at the dirt and gritted his teeth. _"My ship is beyond repair and there is no other way for me to leave this planet," _the Saiya-jin thought. _"Perhaps if I stay here for a while, I can regain my strength and acquire the Dragon Balls myself. Then I will have my wish and rid the myself of Frieza once and for all,"_

Vegeta looked up and turned toward where Bulma, Chi-Chi, and the Ox-King were standing together. "Hey! Girl!" he pointed at Bulma. "How long will it take to collect all of the Dragon Balls again?"

Bulma walked out from behind the Ox-King, placed her hands on her hips and bent forward slightly. "You know I have a name, Vegeta! I swear you are the rudest individual I have ever met!"

"Answer the question!" Vegeta shouted back. "How long?!"

Bulma smirked and waved an index finger at him. "Ah ah ah, Vegeta. Not until you say please,"

Vegeta cried out in exasperation. "You cannot be serious!"

"Very serious," Bulma replied.

Vegeta looked down and closed his eyes tightly. "Rrrrrahh! Tell me how long it will take to collect the Dragon Balls...please,"

Bulma laughed. "Now thats better! Well, according to the legend, they can only be used once per year. Until a year has passed, they're just ordinary stones and can't be found with my Dragon Radar,"

"A year?!" Vegeta cried. The Saiya-jin could feel his anger boil inside of him once again.

"What are you so bent out of shape about, Vegeta?! I'm the one who should be upset right now! I have to wait another year for my chance at the perfect man!" Bulma shouted. Jaco, Chi-Chi, and the Ox-King all fell over backwards after her statement. Vegeta rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Fine," he conceded.

* * *

><p>The sun shone brightly in a cloudless blue sky as Vegeta, and Jaco flew over miles of sparkling open ocean. The pair had decided to take Master Roshi up on his offer of training at his island with his students while they waited for the Dragon Balls to reactivate. Jaco and Vegeta had spent two tension filled days with Bulma at Capsule Corp. while they rested in preparation for their training.<p>

"How much longer is this going to take?" Vegeta asked, irritated as usual.

"I can sense Master Roshi's combat strength not too far up ahead. There also seems to be two smaller powers as well. Those must be his students,"

As they continued to fly, Jaco squinted his eyes and could make out their destination as it came over the horizon. The alien alerted Vegeta to island's presence and pointed. As the pair grew closer, the details of the island became more defined. Sandwiched between three palm trees stood a small, two story pink house with a red roof and 'Kame House' displayed prominently on the second story.

The duo touched down on the beach amongst the shallow water that was slowly lapping against the sand. As soon as their boots touched the sand, Master Roshi appeared in the doorway. "Ah, boys. I see you decided to take me up on my offer,"

"We had nothing better to do so we figured, 'why not'?" Jaco said as he and Vegeta walked up to the house.

"Who are you talking to Master?" a voice asked from behind the Turtle Hermit.

A short, bald headed boy with six burns on his forehead wearing a yellow gi with red pants stepped out onto the porch of the small house.

"Boys, I'd like you to meet one of my students; Krillin," Master Roshi said.

Krillin stood next to Master Roshi and sized up the two new visitors to the island. "Who are these guys supposed to be, Master?" Vegeta scowled at the sound of the boy's voice. Krillin walked down the steps and up to Jaco. "What is this? Some kind of costume?" he asked, while looking him up and down.

Jaco stood motionless until Krillin finally stopped examining him. "Are you through?" he asked. Krillin scrunched his face and moved on to Vegeta. "What are you looking at, baldy?!" Krillin jumped back in surprise.

"Don't mind him, Krillin," Master Roshi said.

The bald monk turned back toward Roshi. "These two aren't more students are they? You said you only take on two at a time,"

"No, Krillin. They're not students. They're here to enhance our training," Roshi replied.

Krillin frowned and walked back up the stairs and leaned up against the pink house. "They surely don't seem like much to me,"

Vegeta laughed. "You'll soon find that you're sorely mistaken. You're combat strength pales in comparison to mine," Vegeta pointed his left thumb at Jaco. "Even the spaceman here could wipe the floor with you,"

"I'll show you!" Krillin shouted. He began to run at Vegeta, but Master Roshi placed a hand on Krillin's bald head to hold him back.

"Calm down there, Krillin. Vegeta is right. You're not strong enough right now," Roshi said. Krillin stopped resisting and returned to leaning against the house with a scowl on his face. Vegeta smirked and crossed his arms as he stared down his new acquaintance with satisfaction.

"Now let me introduce you to my other student," Master Roshi turned and yelled into the house. "Yamcha! Come out here!" Out of the house walked a boy with long, wild black hair that was about Vegeta's age. He wore a green gi with an orange bandana, orange pants and knee high blue boots.

"What's up, Master Roshi?" the boy asked.

"Yamcha, i'd like to introduce you to Vegeta and Jaco. They'll be staying with us for a while to help with your training," the Turtle Hermit replied.

Yamcha stared at Vegeta and Jaco for a moment but didn't say a word. "It seems like this meeting went well," Roshi said, breaking the silence. "Now Krillin, Yamcha, I've got your first bit of training,"

"What is it Master?" Krillin asked.

"We're ready," Yamcha said.

Roshi turned his back to his students and walked down the stairs onto the beach. "I need you to find me a maid,"

"A maid?!" Yamcha shouted. "You can't be serious!"

Roshi turned back toward his students. "Do you want training or now?!" he yelled. "This is my one requirement,"

Krillin and Yamcha both looked at each other and nodded. "Right away, Master," they said together. The pair walked over to a beached speed boat and pushed it into the shallow surf. After jumping in, Krillin gave the pull cord a few yanks and the engine fired up. The bald monk navigated away from the island, picked up speed and disappeared over the horizon.

"Now," Master Roshi began. Vegeta and Jaco turned their attention toward the old martial arts master. "The real training can begin,"

* * *

><p><em>Notes: And so we begin the next chapter of Vegeta's story. Just a small bit of clarification if there is any confusion: Yes, Vegeta was a lot stronger than anyone on the planet prior to his tail being removed. Afterward, he is on par with Jaco and Master Roshi. I won't be following any power levels from the actual series just because they get too ridiculous and crazy as time goes by so don't think of it as them having a power level of 139. Now that thats out of the way, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Another long one, and I got it up a lot quicker this time too! Here's to hoping the next one comes just as quick! Thank you all again for readingreviewing/what have you!_


	6. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai: Pt 1

_Note: Thanks for taking the time to read! For those reviewers wondering about Goku, all I can say is to be patient. All will be resolved in due time. What I will say is that the baby Goku that came to Earth is not there, nor will he be taking Vegeta's place later in the story. Everything will be sorted in due time. Now...on with the show!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 6: 21st Tenkaichi Budokai pt. 1<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Age 750<strong>

Sand and rocks were kicked up into the air as a large yellow aircraft hovered over the pristine beach of Master Roshi's island. The green, wooden screen door opened slowly and a young girl's head popped out to check out the commotion. The young girl had long, dark blue hair that went down to the middle of her back that was accented with a large red ribbon.

The aircraft hovered for a few more seconds before finally touching down on the beach. The whirring engine came to a rest and the craft sat still for a moment. Master Roshi joined the young girl at the door and peered out at the freshly landed aircraft. He tapped the young girl on the butt with his wooden cane and with a surprised yelp, she moved out of the way.

The old master walked out onto his porch and watched a staircase detach from the base of the aircraft and the heavy metal door on the aircraft's side begin to rise.

"What's going on out there, Master?" the young girl asked softly.

The Turtle Hermit grabbed his beard with his left hand and stroked it a few times, but didn't answer the purple-haired girl. The metal door stopped opening with a loud 'thunk' and Bulma stepped out into the sun. She wore a red tank top that had her name on it, a white shirt underneath, orange skirt, yellow socks and purple shoes. Her lavender hair was tied into a ponytail and secured with a red bow. She rested her fists on her hips for a moment and took in the bright sunlight.

"Bulma!" Master Roshi shouted from his porch with a wave. "I didn't expect you so soon! The boys aren't back yet from their last bit of training,"

"Oh?" she said in surprise. She interlaced her fingers behind her head and walked down the aircraft's staircase. "I guess I could just relax here for a little while then,"

"Perhaps I could interest you in taking a swim?" Master Roshi asked nervously. He giggled to himself quietly before continuing. "I'm sure Launch has a suit that you could borrow,"

Bulma furrowed her brow and bent forward toward the old master with her hands on her hips. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing you dirty old man!"

Roshi held his hands up and waved them frantically. "W-W-What ever could you be talking about, Bulma?"

"You know exactly what I mean!" she responded angrily. She walked past Master Roshi and toward the small island house. "Now. I'm going to wait inside," As Bulma walked past, Roshi could only look down and sigh.

The screen door creaked as Bulma entered the house. To her surprise, Jaco sat alone at the kitchen table with a glass of milk sitting in front of him. "Jaco?" she asked, confused. "What are you doing here? Master Roshi said you were out training,"

Jaco looked up. "Bulma. You're here," he said in an unenthusiastic tone. The alien took a sip from his milk. "His students are out training. Vegeta and I are just waiting for them to return,"

"Vegeta is here too?" Bulma asked.

As he was drinking from his glass of milk, Jaco nodded. He finished his beverage and placed the glass back on the table. "He's sitting alone upstairs in the attic,"

Before Bulma could leave to check on the Saiya-jin prince, a loud crash could be heard coming from behind Kame House. The noise started Jaco, causing him to jump up from his seat in surprise. Shortly after the crash, muffled yelling could be heard as it sounded as if two individuals were arguing with each other. Amongst the commotion, Vegeta casually walked down the stairs and glanced out of the back window.

"It looks like the two idiots are back," he said with disdain. He turned from the window and caught Bulma staring back at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Its great to see you too, Vegeta," the lavender-haired girl responded sarcastically.

The Saiya-jin grunted and walked past the girl and pale blue alien and exited through the front screen door. Upon reaching the front porch, Krillin, Yamcha, Master Roshi, and the dark blue-haired girl appeared from around the corner.

"I'm telling you, Master Roshi, I saw the rock first!" Yamcha cried with anger. "He's just trying to make me look bad!"

"You may have seen it first, but I'm the one who grabbed it first," Krillin reasoned as he tossed a medium sized rock up and down in his right hand. "Master Roshi tasked us with bringing the rock back, and thats exactly what I did,"

"You two are pathetic," Vegeta interrupted. The Saiya-jin spit on the ground. "Maybe you two would actually gain some strength if you would quit arguing with each other like little children. But I suppose as long as I'm around, it'll do you no good,"

Krillin stopped tossing the rock and squeezed it tightly in his hand. "Watch it, Vegeta! I'm a lot stronger than you think! It's been months since we last fought and I'm telling you that I'm just as strong as you and Jaco,"

With the mention of his name, Jaco stepped out onto the porch to see Vegeta grabbing his stomach as he laughed. "Ha! Did you hear that, spaceman? The little runt says he's got the combat strength to fight us!"

Krillin gritted his teeth and began to advance toward Vegeta until he felt Master Roshi place a hand on his should. "Krillin, there's no use arguing with either Vegeta or Yamcha. If you really believe you're stronger than them, then prove it!"

The bald monk gulped at the thought of fighting with the Saiya-jin prince again.

* * *

><p><em>"Had enough now, baldy?" Vegeta sneered as he stood over Krillin's battered body. The foursome had been training all day in the hot sun as Master Roshi sought to push his students to the limit against the two talented extraterrestrials. Master Roshi motioned for Vegeta to back away and give the monk some room to recover. Vegeta crossed his arms and obliged as Krillin struggled to get to his feet. "You're no match for me," Vegeta said with his back turned. "You might as well give up now,"<em>

_Krillin pounded the sand with his left fist and gritted his teeth. After exerting a huge amount of effort, he managed to stand and slid into a fighting stance. He took a deep breath. "I'm ready,"_

_The prince turned and gave him a devilish smile. "If you say so,"_

_Vegeta shot across the beach quicker than Krillin had anticipated and slammed his knee into the monk's stomach. As Krillin backed away, doubled over in pain, Vegeta landed an uppercut flush with Krillin's chin and sent him flying onto his back. Master Roshi walked over to his student and began to wave his arms in the air._

_"I think thats enough for today,"_

* * *

><p>"Thats why I'll be testing the combat strength of each one of you in the Tenkaichi Budokai," the old master began. "You've all shown over the past eight months that you are capable of competing with the best in the world, and now I want you to show it,"<p>

"A tournament? That is nothing but child's play for the prince of a warrior race. I've decimated entire planetary populations and you expect me to fight for sport?" Vegeta said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Well, Vegeta. If you think you're the strongest here, then prove it!" Master Roshi taunted. "I think you might be pleasantly surprised as to what the Earth can offer. I'm not so sure you can even beat Jaco,"

Vegeta raised a fist toward Master Roshi. "Do you really think this inferior being would defeat royalty like me?" he asked, pointing in Jaco's direction. "Fine! I'll show you what a real warrior can do, old man!"

_"Thats exactly what I was counting on, Vegeta," _Master Roshi laughed to himself. _"He's so easy to rile up,"_

"Well, if we're done arguing with one another, I suggest we get a move on!" Bulma said as she began to make her way to her aircraft. Vegeta crossed his arms and let out a deep sigh as he made his way to the ship. Jaco interlaced his fingers behind his head as he walked and laughed to himself at Vegeta's antics.

"Come on, boys! Lets get a move on!" Master Roshi said. "We don't want to be late for the registration!"

His two students glared at each other one last time and reluctantly followed their teacher together. Before boarding, Krillin tossed the rock he had found into the sea and watched it splash down a good distance from the shore. He pumped his fist and smiled to himself. _"I totally got his!"_

* * *

><p>The preliminary rounds came and went quickly for Master Roshi's students as they faced little resistance against their competition. Vegeta and Jaco even easier so. Bulma and Jaco each had separate conversations with Vegeta about playing down his strength a bit until the final round. Their pleas were mostly successful outside of an incident where a large man in a lucha libre mask taunted Vegeta enough to be punched out of the ring and into one of the stadium's stone walls. When the preliminary rounds had finished, only eight competitors remained and the tournament bracket was set. To Krillin, Yamcha, and Jaco's surprise, Master Roshi he had yet to show his face at any of their matches after they lost sight of him shortly after registering.<p>

"And now! We've reached the quarterfinal round of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai!" the tournament announcer shouted into his microphone. The packed stadium cheered wildly for a moment before the announcer continued. "The first quarterfinals match will see Krillin face off against Bacterian!"

In the stone tunnel that led out to the arena, Krillin and Bacterian walked out side by side. Bacterian stood nearly three times as tall as Krillin and three times as wide. He had black hair, a heavy black beard and yellowed teeth. Clothed in only a brown loincloth, his sour scent helped him make it through the preliminary round after competitors refused to get near him. Krillin covered his slightly green face with his hands in an effort to block Bacterian's overpowering stench. As they two made their way to the ring, a breeze caught Bacterian's scent and wafted it into the crowd. Bulma, and the dark blue-haired girl named Launch, both pinched their noses and tried not to pass out from the intense smell.

Krillin held his breath and slid down into a fighting stance while Bacterian stood a few yards away just staring at him while he scratched his crotch. The announcer motioned for the fight to begin, and Krillin let out a huge breath. He tried to hold his breath again, but nearly puked from the foul odor being exuded from his opponent. To make matters worse, Bacterian let out a long, loud fart that caused Krillin to run away from his opponent.

The gigantic Bacterian stomped after Krillin, letting farts go as he ran. Vegeta, Jaco, and Yamcha watched in disbelief from the tunnel as Krillin ran frantically around the ring. After a few minutes of watching him scramble, Vegeta and Jaco retreated back to the staging area while Yamcha stayed in support of his rival. "C'mon Krillin! Show him what you're made of!"

"I can't breathe, Yamcha!" Krillin shouted with distress. "He just keeps farting!"

Bacterian bounded around the ring laughing hysterically as he let out fart after fart. The crowd managed to catch the scent of his farts and tried to do whatever they could to minimize the smell. Some covered their noses with clothing or masks, while others simply tried to hide. Krillin, still running, waved his arms wildly as he tried to decide what to do.

_"I can't go out like this! I need to do something if I'm going to win this thing!" _he thought. Krillin continued to circle the ring as he dodged farts and now burps from his disgusting opponent. Krillin watched as his opponent would constantly chase him precariously close to the edge of the ring. Knowing a ring out would cause his opponent to lose, Krillin decided to act. He ran close to the edge and watched Bacterian bound after him. The monk closed his eyes, stopped on a dime and smashed Bacterian's filthy jaw with an uppercut that sent him flying. The giant crashed in a daze on the grass outside of the ring while Krillin stood in shock.

"It was that easy?" he asked himself out loud. Bacterian tried to stand but his legs turned to jelly as soon as he put his immense weight on them and he fell back to the ground.

"And there you have it folks! Our first winner is Krillin by a combination of ring out and technical knock out! He'll be moving on to the next round!"

The crowd cheered and a wide smile appeared on Krillin's face. "Ha ha! Yeah! I did it!" He raised his hands above his head and laughed gleefully. He ran out of the marble ring and down into the tunnel where he was met by a happy Yamcha.

"Way to go, Krillin! You showed him what the Turtle School can do!"

"I sure did! I bet he won't forget that any time soon," the bald monk replied.

"I wouldn't celebrate for too long, baldy," Vegeta said with a smirk as he walked from the staging area. "Once I dispose of my opponent, you're next,"

Krillin gulped nervously as Vegeta passed him on his way to Bulma, who was waving him over to her. "T-Thats fine. I'll show him!" Krillin said, trying to psych himself up. Yamcha patted his friend on the shoulder reassuringly and watched as the announcer made his way back into the ring.

"Its time for our next match!" he began. The announcer looked down to his cue card and revealed the next match. "Yamcha and Jackie Chun will be the participants in the next quarterfinal match!"

"Well, thats my cue!" Yamcha said as he waved over his shoulder to Krillin. "See you in the winner's circle!"

The long-haired warrior made his way up the marble steps and into the ring. He was followed shortly by his opponent; Jackie Chun. The old man wore a long black shirt, baggy black pants and black shoes. Strangely enough, he bore a striking resemblance to Master Roshi with his long white beard, but had slicked back white hair instead of a bald head.

Yamcha and Jackie Chun both squared off in the center of the ring awaiting for the match to begin. _"This guy has got to be over a hundred years old! This'll be a piece of cake!" _Yamcha thought to himself. The announcer signaled for the match to start and Yamcha was first on the attack. He dashed off toward the elderly competitor with his right hand cocked back ready to strike.

"Lets get this over with quick! Wolf. Fang. FIST!"

Yamcha lunged forward with the technique but met only air as Jackie Chun casually jumped out of the way of the attack. By putting so much force behind his attack, Yamcha was sent off balance. Jackie Chun let out an invisible energy blast from his right hand causing Yamcha to tumble out of the ring.

Yamcha placed a hand on his head as he cleared the cobwebs in his head. He soon realized that he was sitting on grass rather than the marble combat ring. "Whu? What happened?"

"Wow! In a stunningly quick battle, Jackie Chun has defeated Yamcha and will move on to the next round!" the announcer shouted into his microphone.

Jackie Chun casually walked out of the marble ring and toward the opposite side of the stadium. Yamcha stumbled back toward his teammate and could only manage a sigh. "I don't know what happened out there," he began; dejected. "I'm just glad Master Roshi wasn't here to see that sorry display," Yamcha sat down next to his friend and draped his arms over his knees.

"Yeah, he'd probably make you swim in that shark infested lake again," Krillin said.

"Lets see if our next competitors can top that finish!" the tournament announcer yelled. "The next match will pit Vegeta against Nam! Contestants, make your way to the ring!"

Vegeta confidently walked past Krillin and Yamcha toward the ring with his arms crossed. He watched silently as his opponent, entered the ring ahead of him. Nam was a tall, lanky man who wore a white turban and an orange and maroon robe with baggy orange pants. As the Saiya-jin walked up marble steps into the ring, he could hear Bulma cheering him from the stands.

"Yeah, Vegeta! Go get him!" she shouted as she waved her hands above her head.

Vegeta scowled and rolled his eyes at the display of support. He stood across from his opponent, arms still crossed, as Nam settled into a fighting stance. The announcer signaled for the match to begin and Nam immediately shot off toward his opponent. To Vegeta's surprise, Nam was a lot quicker than he had anticipated. Nam threw a left jab toward Vegeta's head but he managed to dodge the move just in time. Nam continued his assault on the Saiya-jin with a right cross followed by a sweep that Vegeta backflipped over.

The prince handsprung backward a couple times and upon landing he was immediately greeted with an elbow to the stomach that forced saliva to fly out of his mouth. Vegeta gritted his teeth and fought through the pain to deliver an right uppercut that connected square with Nam's jaw. The blow sent Nam careening backward but the warrior was able to catch his fall with one hand and popped back to his feet. _"That elbow should have been a crippling blow," _Nam thought.

Vegeta flicked his thumb across his lower lip and smirked. "If thats all you've got...you're in trouble,"

Nam growled in frustration at Vegeta's arrogance and took off towards the Saiya-jin with ill intent. Nam swung wildly with overhand punches and weak jabs that were unsuccessful. After Nam's last flurried attempt, Vegeta's jab found its way through Nam's defenses and snapped his head back upon contact. Vegeta followed with a right kick to Nam's knee that buckled him down to the ground. The Saiya-jin cracked Nam in the jaw with a right cross that sent shocks of pain through Nam's body but he refused to fall completely. Vegeta finished the brutal flurry with a front kick that connected with his opponent's throat and finally brought him to the ground in a heap.

"Ha! And after that first attack I foolishly thought you'd be somewhat of a challenge, but instead I haven't even broken a sweat," Vegeta mocked as he stood over his fallen foe. Nam raised his head and glared at the prince. "Someone like you doesn't deserve victory," He summoned all of the energy remaining in his body and leap up high into the air. Vegeta watched as his opponent disappeared into the midday sun. The prince squinted through the bright light in an attempt to find Nam but to no avail.

Above the ring, Nam backflipped a few times until he stopped in mid air and dove back down toward his opponent with his arms crossed in an 'X' formation right below his chin. "This will stop you! Heaven Cross!" he cried as he closed in on Vegeta.

At the last second, Vegeta was caught by surprise as Nam's image appeared amongst the sun's rays and was unable to put up a significant defense to the technique. Nam drove his forearms into Vegeta's throat and sent him slamming into the marble ring. Nam shifted all of his body weight into his forearms and pressed Vegeta's throat against the ground before front flipping off and back to his feet. "There," he said, clearly satisfied with his performance. He turned his back to Vegeta and began to walk away. "No man can take that attack head on and awaken within ten days. You're tournament is done,"

"Wow! Nam seems to have Vegeta down for the count!" the tournament announcer roared. The crowd threw their hands up in the air in frenzied celebration at what appeared to be the end of the third match.

"Grrack! Aaahhh!" Vegeta cried in agony from the ground. He brought his gloved hands up and clenched them around his throat in an attempt to ease the pain.

* * *

><p>"Whoa! That guy just demolished Vegeta with that technique!" Krillin said in awe from the tunnel. "Did you see it, Yamcha?!" The former bandit gulped and nodded slowly. "I've never seen Vegeta take a hit like that before,"<p>

Jaco walked up to the two Turtle students with his arms crossed. "What's going on out here,"

"That guy just beat Vegeta!" Yamcha yelled happily. "He came flying from the air and hit him hard! There's no way anyone could stand after that!"

Jaco exhaled heavily and began walking back toward the staging area. "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Yamcha. Vegeta won't lose,"

"But, he already di-"

"Uh...Yamcha?" Krillin said shakily as he pointed toward the ring. Yamcha turned and his jaw dropped as he saw Vegeta now on his knees in the ring.

His opponent was equally shocked as the Saiya-jin prince began to drag himself to his feet. "N-N-No! Thats impossible! Y-You can't be human!" Vegeta finally made his way back to his feet. He placed a gloved hand on his chin and crack his neck one way, and then the other. He ran his thumb across his lower lip and cleared a few splotches of blood that had accumulated. "Heh. You're right. I'm not," he smirked.

Nam took a few steps backward as he tried to collect his thoughts. Vegeta's smirk faded and his expression turned more severe. "You've made me look like a fool for the last time," With that, Vegeta shot off toward Nam and landed a crushing uppercut that made Nam's ribs crunch. As Vegeta's fist dug into his stomach, Nam coughed up a small amount of blood that splashed down on to the marble ring. Nam staggered backwards a few feet, holding his damaged stomach. Not allowing for any time to recover, Vegeta found a home for a straight right and a left cross to Nam's face. Nam landed flat on his back with each heavy breath harder than the next.

Vegeta let out a maniacal laugh. "Don't you see? You're nothing compared to me! You're nothing but a worm under my boot!" Vegeta placed a foot on Nam's chest and began to put pressure on his sternum. Nam cried out in pain and begged Vegeta to stop. "Please! Ack! Stop it! I give up! I give!"

Vegeta took his foot off of Nam and stood over him. "That's what I thought," He spit a small amount of blood that had pooled in his mouth on to Nam's bare chest and walked away.

"You heard it folks! It's Vegeta with the surprising come from behind tap out victory!" the announcer called out. The crowd gave a mixture of cheers and boos after Vegeta's brutal display to end the match. The Saiya-jin paid them no mind and walked out of the marble ring.

"That was uncalled for, Vegeta!" Krillin said with disgust as Vegeta walked past him. "You nearly killed him!"

Vegeta turned and smiled at the bald monk. "And you're next," Krillin took a step back and gulped heavily. He watched as Vegeta walked past Jaco back to the staging area and leaned up against a wall with his arms crossed. _"I'm going to beat him! He's got to learn that he's not so hot," _Krillin thought angrily. _"I'll show him,"_

* * *

><p>"Now we move to the final fight of the quarterfinals!" the announcer began. "Its time for Jaco versus Ranfan!"<p>

Jaco gave a silent salute to Krillin and Yamcha and began walking up to the marble ring. As he exited the tunnel, he was met by his opponent, Ranfan, who had exited another tunnel on her way to the ring. She had curly purple hair that added to her height and wore a pink shirt, baggy grey pants and black athletic shoes. Jaco glanced over at his curvaceous competitor and received a flirty wink in return. He closed his eyes and shook his head as he ascended the steps into the ring. The two faced off in the center of the ring and awaited the signal to begin.

"C'mon, Jaco! You can do it!" Bulma shouted from the stands.

Ranfan stood in front of Jaco with her hands on her hips and gave him a wink again. "You're cute," she said flirtatiously. Jaco blushed slightly but held his fighting stance in preparation for battle. "Hmph. You're no fun," Ranfan pouted. She too fell into a fighting stance, and the announcer signaled for the fight to start. Both Jaco and Ranfan took off toward each other and engaged in combat.

Jaco moved left and right as Ranfan threw a flurry of punches that couldn't find their way through Jaco's defenses. The pale, blue alien swept Ranfan's legs out from under her which sent her down on her butt. She let out a frustrated growl and stood. Instead of attacking Jaco, she began to remove her clothes until she was down to her pink, laced underwear. The crowd immediately went wild as she whipped her shirt out of the ring. Even the ordinarily stoic Jackie Chun was wiping blood from his nose as he stared at the scantily clad competitor.

"What do you think of me now, cutie?" Ranfan cooed. Jaco let out a sigh and placed his thumb and forefinger between his eyes. _"Why do I even bother staying on this planet?"_

Ranfan furrowed her brow at her aloof opponent and dashed off toward him. "Why aren't you paying attention to me?!" she shouted. She cocked back her left fist but before she could strike, Jaco backhanded her across the face and sent her crashing out of the ring.

Amongst the 'oos' and 'ahs' from the crowd, Jackie Chun sped to her side and began placing his hands on her butt and back. "I'm, uh. I'm just checking for a heartbeat!" he yelled as the medics made their way over.

"And our final competitor moving on will be Jaco!" the announcer bellowed. Jaco exited the ring and made his way back over to the staging area where Vegeta still stood alone. "The semi-finals have now been set! We'll be seeing matches between Krillin and Vegeta as well as Jaco versus Jackie Chun! We'll now take a short intermission before the next round,"

* * *

><p><em>Notes: Whew! That was another longer one. Sorry I haven't been able to adhere to a set schedule, but I spent the last day rewriting the Vegeta and Nam fight. I wasn't happy with the first version so I wanted to get it just right! The semis are now set and its looking like we have a couple of interesting fights on our hands! I'm hoping to get back to releasing another chapter next Wednesday or Thursday. From here on out i'd love to get on a publishing schedule. We'll see what happens.<em>


	7. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai: Pt 2

_Hows a Thursday release date sound? I'm going to try my hardest to post a new chapter every Thursday from now on. Hopefully that'll still work when school starts next month but updates may be a bit more erratic. I've been asked to clarify the ages of the characters at this point in the story and I'm more than happy to do that._

_Vegeta: 18_

_Bulma: 17_

_Jaco: Unknown_

_Krillin: 14_

_Yamcha: 17_

_Everyone is the same age they'd normally be at this point in the Dragon Ball canon storyline. That was something I wanted to stick to. Any other questions, just ask and I'll answer them as best I can! Thanks again for reading!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: 21st Tenkaichi Budokai pt. 2<strong>

* * *

><p>Bulma and Launch, returned to their seats in anticipation for the semi-finals. The pair had spent some of the intermission at the busy concession stands stocking up on snacks for the next two rounds. Although they had only met early on in the day, during the tournament, the two had become fast friends.<p>

"So," Bulma began before taking a sip from her soda. "Tell me. How was Vegeta during the past eight months? I was only with him for only a little bit, but he liked to be pretty difficult,"

Launch gave a quiet sigh. "Difficult is an understatement. He spent most of his time alone in the attic. He rarely ever ate in the same room as us, but if he did, it was always as far away as possible. He'd constantly order me around to cook and clean up after him like I was his own personal servant.." she trailed off. "But I feel like there's something he's hiding,"

Bulma tilted her head in interest and took another sip from her soda. "Hiding something? Like what?"

"Its hard to say. I think a lot of his tough guy persona is just an act. It seemed like he would wake up almost every night from a nightmare. I could hear him thrashing around up there. Sometimes he'd leave through the attic window in the middle of the night but he'd always be back before dawn,"

Bulma pursed her lips and bit down on her tongue in thought. _Who is this guy? _She was quickly snapped back to reality when the tournament announcer's voice boomed over the stadium's PA system once again. "Ladies and gentlemen! It's time to begin the semi-final round! The winner of each match will face each other later today to determine the World's Martial Arts Champion!" The crowd roared in approval. The announcer threw his microphone up into the air and snatched it before it hit the ground. "And now for the first match! Will Jackie Chun and Jaco please make their way to the ring!"

Bulma hopped up from her seat and waved a hot dog filled hand in the air. "Go, Jaco! Woo!"

"I'm surprised Master Roshi hasn't shown up yet," Launch said as Bulma returned to her seat. "I thought he'd be here to support his students,"

"You're right. That _is_ strange. Maybe he's sitting somewhere else in the arena?"

"He disappeared with the crowd right before the fighter registration,"

Bulma could only shrug and take another sip from her soda. She trained her gaze back down on the ring as the fight below was about to begin.

* * *

><p>Jaco and Jackie Chun stood opposite each other in fighting stances as they waited to begin. "Don't think you've got me fooled," Jaco said with a smile. "I know who you really are. Especially after that lecherous display with my opponent a little while ago. But don't worry, I won't say a thing to Yamcha or Krillin,"<p>

"You're a bright one, Jaco," Jackie Chun replied. "My students can't win just yet. They have to learn there's always someone stronger than them. Think of this as the last part of their training,"

The announcer gave the signal to begin and Jaco immediately went on the attack. He threw a lightning fast right hand that was caught by his opponent. Jaco pushed his fist into Jackie Chun's palm as hard as he could, but the old martial artist wouldn't budge. The two opponents looked as if they were frozen in combat. "I technically wasn't one of your students," Jaco continued their previous conversation. "So that doesn't apply to me!"

He retracted his fist and landed a quick sweep that took Jackie Chun's legs out from under him. The old man landed on his left hand, regained his balance, and retaliated with a kick to Jaco's ribs. Jackie Chun swung around and landed back on his feet. Jaco grabbed at his ribs and stumbled backward.

The old martial artist dashed toward the alien but was met with an invisible kiai from Jaco's outstretched hand. The gust of energy knocked the old man back slightly and opened him up from attack. Jaco rushed forward and planted a left and a right to Jackie Chun's stomach and finished the combo off with an uppercut that sent the old man to the ground. Jaco stood with his fists on his hips and his chest puffed out. "Now thats how you do it!" he said with pride.

Jackie Chun flung himself back to his feet and smiled. "Its been a long time since I could fight someone that was on my level," The old man took off at Jaco and their forearms met with an audible sound. Punches and kicks began to fly rapidly but neither gained an advantage in the exchange.

* * *

><p>"Wow! Those two are really impressive!" Yamcha said in amazement. "I can barely keep up with their movements!" He turned to his training partner and gave him a playful shove. "Even if you get through Vegeta, you're going to have your hands full,"<p>

Krillin ran his hands along his head like he was running fingers through his nonexistent hair. Yamcha watched as Krillin looked as if he would hyperventilate. "Don't worry, Krillin," Yamcha reassured. "You'll do fine. I know you've got enough faith in yourself for the both of us,"

Krillin straightened up and took a deep breath. "You're right, Yamcha. After all, I am Master Roshi's most accomplished student," he said, polishing his fingernails on his gi.

Yamcha growled in disagreement and turned back to the fight. _There he is._

* * *

><p>Jaco and Jackie Chun's forearms clashed as both fighters struck each other at the same time. They put all of the force they could into their attacks, but were met with a stalemate. After another short flurry of punches, Jaco and Jackie Chun backflipped away from each other and landed at opposite sides of the ring. Jackie Chun could be seen panting heavily while Jaco looked relatively fresh outside of some scrapes and cuts.<p>

The pale blue alien dashed toward the tired Jackie Chun with his right fist cocked back behind his ear ready to strike. He swung with all his might and connected with what he thought was Jackie Chun's face, but to his surprise, he flew through only an after image. Off-balance, Jaco stumbled toward the edge of the ring. He swung his arms wildly in an attempt to regain his equilibrium and leaned precariously over the edge. He could sense that Jackie Chun was now behind him, and moving in for the finishing blow.

With split second thinking, Jaco launched a kiai at the ground to launch himself back towards his advancing opponent. Before Jackie Chun could react, Jaco landed a vicious punch to the old man's jaw that sent him flying back the way he came. The moment Jaco's boots hit the ground, he chased after Jackie Chun to strike with a winning attack. The alien used his momentum and threw a flying kick that was destined to knock Jackie Chun out of the ring.

The kick connected, but again, the crafty old man used his after image technique to his advantage. Jaco barreled out of the ring and toward the wall that sat beneath the stands. Another split second decision had Jaco front flipping towards the wall and stopping in mid-air with the help of his ki control. Jaco momentarily floated upside down in front of the awestruck audience. In shock at the development, the tournament announcer dropped his microphone in amazement. He scrambled to pick it up and continue with his play-by-play of the fight.

"A-And. And Jaco has managed to...FLOAT above the out of bounds area! Since the rules state that you have to _land _out of bounds to be disqualified, Jaco is still in the game!"

The crowd roared with excitement. A smirk formed on Jaco's face as he slowly rotated in mid-air. He airdashed back to the ring and landed across from Jackie Chun yet again. "I've got to give it to you. Your technique is impressive as always," Jaco congratulated.

The out of breath Jackie Chun stood with gritted teeth trying to think of a way to defeat Jaco. _If I'm going to have any strength for the finals, I'm going to need to stop him now. I'm losing too much energy._

Jaco again launched himself towards Jackie Chun and slammed a kick into Jackie Chun's forearm. The alien backflipped and began to assault the old man with punches and kicks yet again. To his dismay, Jackie Chun managed to avoid each and every attack. The crowd around them roared again at the skill with which the two were battling.

Jackie Chun found a hole between Jaco's attacks and went on the offensive. He landed a straight left, right between Jaco's eyes. The pale blue alien stumbled backward and made the mistake of covering his face. Jackie Chun took the opportunity and struck with a flying kick to Jaco's stomach that doubled him over. The old man landed multiple left-right punching combos to Jaco's head as the alien tried to cover up. Jackie Chun ended his assault with a roundhouse kick that tore through only Jaco's afterimage. The old man jumped backward in surprise at Jaco using the advanced technique against him.

* * *

><p>"Did you see that, Krillin?! Jaco just disappeared just like the old man did! Yamcha shouted excitedly. "What a fight!"<p>

Krillin watched in awe as the two competitors clashed yet again in a flurry of punches. _How am I supposed to keep up with these guys? I can barely follow them now let alone in a fight! _"They still won't stand a chance against me," Krillin said with false bravado.

Vegeta silently made his way into the tunnel from the staging area to view the match. "He's still not through with him yet? I suppose I've overestimated him. I actually had faith that he'd defeat this old man quickly,"

"Thats no ordinary old man, Vegeta," Yamcha said. "He's incredible!"

* * *

><p>Jaco threw a looping left hook and again blasted through Jackie Chun's afterimage. He gritted his teeth and grunted in frustration. <em>Dammit. He's faster than I anticipated. <em>As he finished his thought, he too disappeared into an afterimage that Jackie Chun struck. Jaco appeared behind the old man and managed to hit him with a kick to the back of the head that sent Jackie Chun stumbling forward. Jackie Chun twisted and fired back with an uppercut that missed Jaco by inches. The alien flipped backwards in midair and thrust both of his hands in Jackie Chun's direction. An invisible kiai erupted from his hands and forced the old man to slide backwards.

Determined to defeat the old man once and for all, Jaco flew at him with his right fist cocked behind his ear. Jackie Chun readied his block but instead was met by Jaco's afterimage flying through him. "What?" the old man sputtered. Seconds later, Jaco's boot connected with the old man's head and sent him careening out of the ring. Jackie Chun landed on his side on the grass below. Jaco landed in the ring and let out a sigh of relief.

"There you have it folks! with an incredible display of misdirection not seen before, Jaco has defeated Jackie Chun and will move on to the final round!" the announced shouted.

Bulma and Launch jumped up from their seats and cheered loudly. They turned toward each other, interlaced their fingers and began jumping up and down in celebration. "Jaco! Yay, Jaco!"

Jaco walked over to Jackie Chun, and helped him to his feet. "You were worrying me there. I never thought you were going to go down,"

Jackie Chun groaned as he straightened his back. "That was a well placed attack, Jaco. You surprised me with some of those techniques," He dusted dirt off of his black pants. "I think its time I change and support Krillin for his match with Vegeta. He's going to need all of the support he can get,"

Jaco nodded in agreement and waved goodbye to the old man for the time being. The alien was met by Krillin and Yamcha and received their congratulations. Vegeta, meanwhile, was leaning against the tunnel wall with his arms crossed. "Took you long enough, spaceman. I felt like you'd never finish him,"

Jaco placed his right fist on his hip. "You wouldn't have done much better, Vegeta,"

The Saiya-jin gave Jaco a devilish smirk. "Don't make me laugh," he walked up to the alien and stood inches away from his face. "I'll just have to show you what I mean in the next round,"

Jaco bumped Vegeta's shoulder with his own as he walked past him. "Get through Krillin first and we'll talk,"

Vegeta gritted his teeth and growled as Jaco walked off. He turned angrily to Yamcha and Krillin who were listening intently at the exchange. "What are you two looking at?" Krillin and Yamcha jumped backward as Vegeta passed.

"I don't like the look in his eyes, Krillin. I sure wouldn't want to be fighting him right now," Yamcha said.

"Yeah, me neither," Krillin said with a heavy sigh.

* * *

><p>Master Roshi had finally joined Bulma, and Launch in the stands and waited patiently for the next match to begin.<p>

"Say, Master Roshi, where'd you get those bruises from?" Launch asked.

Bulma glanced down at the old man's arms. "Yeah, what happened? You've got some cuts too. Those weren't there earlier,"

Master Roshi laughed nervously as he rolled his sleeves down. "Oh, they've been there. Nothing to worry about,"

Bulma and Launch looked at on another other and shrugged. "Whatever," they said in unison.

* * *

><p>"Its now time for the second semi-final match!" the announcer boomed. The crowd cheered loudly in anticipation. "This contest will pit Krillin against Vegeta!"<p>

Vegeta and Krillin both walked up the stairs to the marble ring and stood across from each other. Krillin bent down into a fighting stance while Vegeta casually waited for him with his arms crossed. "Don't get too comfortable," Vegeta taunted. "I plan on making this quick,"

Krillin scowled at the Saiya-jin prince. _I'll make him eat those words. _The monk looked up into the stands and saw Master Roshi gazing back down at him. _I didn't notice that Master Roshi finally showed up. I know I can't disappoint him._ Krillin furrowed his brow and focused on his opponent. The announcer signaled for the match to begin, but Vegeta stood motionless across from him with a smirk on his face. "Well?"

_Its now or never. _Krillin dashed toward Vegeta and jumped into the air. He threw a looping right hook that Vegeta sidestepped easily. As Krillin came down, Vegeta drove a knee into the monk's stomach that sent him to the ground in pain. Vegeta kicked the injured fighter in the back and sent him rolling across the marble ring toward the edge.

"Vegeta looks to have Krillin on the ropes already!" the announcer shouted. "Its not looking good for him!"

Krillin gritted his teeth and hopped back up to his feet. He wiped some spit from his mouth and contemplated his next move. _He's gotten stronger since the last time I fought him. But I've gotten stronger too! _Krillin took off towards Vegeta yet again and met him with a flurry of punches.

Vegeta laughed as he blocked the blows. "Is this what you've been bragging about?" He blocked the last of Krillin's shots. "You've got..." He landed a punch to Krillin's stomach. "...to do..." A right cross to the chin. "...better..." A left hook to the cheek. "...than that!" Vegeta connected with a kick to Krillin's midsection and sent him flying to the opposite side of the ring yet again.

* * *

><p>Master Roshi watched from the stands as the Saiya-jin prince pummeled his student around the ring. <em>He's just toying with him. I know Vegeta is more talented than that. I've seen it with my own eyes. But I know Krillin is a lot better than what he's showing too.<em>

* * *

><p>Vegeta knocked Krillin down to the ground with a strike once again but the monk's resiliency brought him back to his feet. He threw an uppercut that Vegeta caught easily, and the Saiya-jin countered with a punch to his face that no one but Master Roshi and Jaco could see. Krillin fell to his knees momentarily but soon found himself flailing through the air following a kick from Vegeta. Krillin landed flat on his back and gazed skyward. <em>I can't do it. He's too fast. He rolled his head over and looked at his teacher. I can't let him down. <em>He shakily stood once again and glared at Vegeta.

"You just don't know when to stay down do you?" Vegeta laughed as he advanced. "No matter. All the more fun for me,"

Vegeta launched himself toward the woozy warrior and prepared a punch for another savage attack. As he threw the punch, Krillin bent backwards and watched as Vegeta's fist flew inches from his chin. Krillin put all of his weight behind an uppercut and found a home for it on Vegeta's stomach. Krillin followed with another right uppercut to the chin that snapped the Saiya-jin's head back. The monk then hopped into the air and finished with a left cross that connected with the side of Vegeta's head. The Saiya-jin toppled over sideways amongst an eruption of cheers from the surrounding audience.

Knowing time was of the essence, Krillin jumped on top of Vegeta and began to pummel his face with punches as fast as his arms could go. Vegeta's head bounced back and forth against the marble ring with each strike. The Saiya-jin struggled to get his barrings amongst the assault of punches, but when he did, he sent a knee into the bottom of Krillin's tailbone. The strike sent Krillin toppling over Vegeta's head and face first into the marble ring.

In a flash, Vegeta stood and grabbed the monk's legs. He swung Krillin around by the ankles a few times and slammed him into the marble floor. Krillin bounced a few times before coming to rest with his feet hanging off the edge of the ring on the opposite side. Vegeta raised a hand and formed a ball of yellow energy in his palm.

"Vegeta! No!" Jaco yelled from the tunnel he was watching the match from. The crowd whipped up into a frenzy at the light show in the ring below. No one in the arena, baring a select few, had seen a ki energy blast before. "Hit the deck!" Master Roshi cried. Bulma, Launch and the old man ducked down behind the thick wall separating them from the arena down below.

Vegeta smirked and released the energy blast towards his former training partner. Krillin lifted his head and watched as the yellow ball rapidly approached. The only defense he had left was to cover up and brace for impact. The blast connected with a bright flash and blinded the surrounding onlookers temporarily. When the light subsided, Master Roshi, Bulma and Launch rose from their hiding spot and saw a large black scorch mark on the marble ring with chunks taken out near the edge.

Master Roshi scanned the ring frantically for his student until he finally caught sight of him laying face down in the grass outside of the ring. "Krillin!"

"You killed him!" Yamcha screamed as he ran over to his fallen comrade. He knelt down next to the monk and saw the blast had singed most of the bottom part of his pants off. He raised Krillin's head and propped him up in his lap. "Krillin.." he said softly.

To his immense relief, Krillin twitched and grabbed his head. "Ugh.. h-hey Yamcha. How's.. how's it goin'?"

"Krillin!" Yamcha cried with happiness. "You're alright!"

The monk gave his training partner a small smile and coughed. "Yeah. I'm fine," He sat up and wiped the blood that was coming out of his mouth and sighed. "He was just too strong.." Vegeta's shadow stretched out over the two as he watched Yamcha help Krillin to his feet. The Saiya-jin quietly laughed to himself, clearly satisfied with his work.

Amongst all of the chaos, the tournament announcer momentarily found himself at a loss for words. He fumbled with his microphone briefly before bringing it closer to his mouth. "Following the spectacular light show, it looks like we have a winner by technical knockout! Vegeta will be moving on to face Jaco in the final round to determine the World's Martial Arts Champion!"

Vegeta exited the ring and returned to the staging area where he found Jaco sitting alone against one of the stone walls. "I thought you would've finished the fight sooner," Jaco said in a mocking tone. The alien got up and walked up to the irritated Saiya-jin. "You may think otherwise, but this has been building for eight months now. No more sparring, no more stopping with a knockdown. Don't think I've forgotten about what happened when we first met,"

"Well, well. Where is this coming from, spaceman?" Vegeta said with a smirk. "I sure hope you're not trying to intimidate me," He looked Jaco right in his eyes. "Because it isn't working," He pushed past the pale blue alien and walked toward a table filled with complementary food and drink. He took a few sips from a bottled water and prepared for a retort from Jaco, but one never came. He turned and saw Jaco silently making his way into the arena. The Saiya-jin wiped his mouth and smiled.

* * *

><p>"And now, Ladies and gentlemen, Its time for the final match in this, the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai!" the announcer roared. He adjusted his sunglasses and continued. "Introducing first, having defeated Ranfan and Jackie Chun on his way to the finals, Jaco!" The alien exited the tunnel stoically and made his way into the ring amidst a chorus of cheers. "His opponent for this penultimate match, who defeated Nam and Krillin along the way, Vegeta!" The Saiya-jin walked with crossed arms into the marble ring and stood across from Jaco.<p>

"They look so bored down there," Bulma noticed. "Its almost as if they don't care who wins,"

"Don't be fooled, Bulma. They've been waiting a long time for this," Roshi said seriously. "This is going to be explosive," Bulma and Launch looked at each other with a touch of nervousness. "If you thought those little fireworks earlier were something, you just wait and see,"

* * *

><p><em>Well. I had originally planned to do the tournament in two chapters, but I'm having a lot of fun writing these fights. For all of you Krillin fans out there, don't you worry. He will be having his moments very soon. Seeing as there is only one final match, the tournament WILL be wrapped up in the next chapter and bring in the <em>'Zenkai' _version of the Red Ribbon Army. I toyed around with including the finals here, but then I think it would just be too long. How long is too long? Let me know what you think. I might be pushing it now but we'll see. Til next time! _


	8. 21st Tenkaichi Budokai: The Finals

_A Sunday update?! I almost included the finals in the last chapter so I had most of the fight outlined already. I figured why not finish it up early and begin full on with the next story arc on Thursday. Enjoy!_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: 21st Tenkaichi Budokai: The Finals<strong>

* * *

><p>The crowd sat, drenched with anticipated, as the two fighters silently stared at each other from across the ring. Jaco slowly slid his back foot backward and crouched into a fighting position. Vegeta pulled down on his left glove, to further secure it onto his fist, and slid into his fighting stance as well. Men in red togas pounded on drums in a rhythmic fashion to build up the tension before the match began. "Let the match...BEGIN!" the announcer shouted. A gong sounded and the two fighters shot off toward each other.<p>

The loud sound of fists on flesh echoed across the arena as Vegeta, and Jaco both connected with right crosses to each other's face at the same time. The two pressed their fists into the cheek of the other fighter as hard as they could to gain an advantage, but neither would budge. The pair broke apart and again connected simultaneously, but this time with left crosses to the face. After another stalemate, they backflipped away from each other, landed, and dashed back toward one another again.

Jaco, and Vegeta's forearms slammed into each other as they met in the center of the ring. The clash of powers sent out a gust of wind that blew dust and debris into the crowd. Vegeta gritted his teeth and swung his free hand at Jaco's head, but the punch was caught by the alien. Jaco gripped Vegeta's fist and dragged him into his right knee. The Saiya-jin's head ricocheted off of the knee and snapped backward with a crack. As Vegeta fell, he grabbed Jaco's leg, but the alien managed to slip free and jump over him. Vegeta rolled onto his back and unleashed three energy blasts at the airborne alien. Jaco dodged the first two and backhanded the third into the air where it exploded like a firework.

Vegeta got up quickly and met Jaco on the ground with a punch that only glanced off of the alien's shoulder. Jaco threw an driving uppercut at Vegeta's stomach, but the prince was able to fend it off in time. Vegeta took advantage of Jaco's position and connected with a front kick on Jaco's chin. Jaco's teeth clacked together and he crumpled forward to the ground. Vegeta readied a followup uppercut, but before he could hit, Jaco went back on the offensive and flipped Vegeta over his head and planted the Saiya-jin on his back.

The Saiya-jin prince scrambled back to his feet and released a yellow energy blast at Jaco's chest. Jaco retaliated with an invisible kiai that sent the blast back toward Vegeta. He slapped the return blast sideways and the crowd watched as the ball of energy barely escaped from the stadium. Shouts of terror erupted from the crowd as the blast detonated in the ocean that surrounded stadium.

Vegeta flicked his lower lip with his thumb and smirked at Jaco. "Is that all you've got, spaceman? I expected a little more out of you," Jaco gritted his teeth and lunged at the Saiya-jin prince his right fist cocked back. The alien swung, but only met the air as Vegeta managed to jump over his advancing opponent. Vegeta landed on the marble ring and connected with a body kick to Jaco's ribs right before he hit the ground. Jaco crumbled sideways and grabbed his tenderized ribs. The pale blue alien swung at Vegeta with a spinning back fist but missed by inches as the Saiya-jin bent backwards to dodge.

Off-balance from his previous technique, Jaco left himself open attack. Vegeta capitalized with a straight right to Jaco's jaw and downed the alien once again. Jaco sat up and wiped a small amount of purple blood that had begun to trickle out of his mouth. Vegeta quickly advanced on his fallen opponent, but just as he was about to connect with another attack, he tore through only an afterimage.

Vegeta turned to see Jaco standing behind him with his arms crossed. The prince furrowed his brow and took off toward Jaco once again. He advanced faster than Jaco had anticipated and landed a right hook to the side of Jaco's head. Jaco gritted his teeth, fought through the pain, and connected with a right hook of his own. Vegeta stumbled momentarily but still managed to return a left kick to Jaco's thigh. The alien buckled slightly and fired a straight left into Vegeta's stomach. The Saiya-jin fell forward and placed a hand on Jaco's forehead and immediately began to form an energy blast in his palm. Before he could fire it, Jaco grabbed Vegeta's wrist, lifted him and slammed him head first into the ring.

Jaco dove at the Saiya-jin with a punch, but Vegeta managed to roll out of the way and back up to his feet. Jaco's fist connected with the marble and formed a crack that began to split the ring itself. The crowd cheered frantically and stomped their feet in approval at Jaco's show of superhuman strength. Vegeta dashed towards Jaco and locked with him in a flurry of punches and kicks that were barely discernible to the human eye.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I can hardly believe what I'm seeing!" the announcer shouted. "Vegeta and Jaco are moving at speeds I've never seen in all of my years announcing this tournament! These two truly are impressive!"

Vegeta smashed a fist into Jaco's cheek and sent him skipping across the ring. Jaco used his bouncing momentum to roll and hop up to his feet. The two rivals stared at each other from across the ring; each silently preparing their next move.

_Our combat strength is just about even. _Jaco thought. _Attacking him head on is just going to result in a stalemate at this point. _Jaco's thought process was interrupted by an energy blast that was quickly making its way toward him. The alien jumped skyward and watched as the blast crashed into the ring below. He looked up and saw Vegeta flying right at him with a fist cocked back ready to strike. Jaco disappeared with an afterimage technique and Vegeta hit nothing but air. Jaco reappeared behind Vegeta and dug a kick right into Vegeta's ribs. The Saiya-jin grunted in pain and spun around to attack, but was only met by another afterimage. Jaco appeared behind Vegeta once again and slammed two clasped hands on top of his head, causing the prince to plummet back toward the Earth.

The impact shattered more pieces of the marble ring and sent sharp pieces of marble sailing into the air. Jaco returned to the ground and watched as Vegeta shakily stood and cracked his neck to loosen himself back up. His normally pristine, blue body suit had tears forming all over. His white gloves and boots were becoming scuffed and dirty. For the first time since arriving on Earth, Vegeta looked like he had been in a fight.

Vegeta felt warm blood trickling out from a cut over his right eye. He brushed the cut with his thumb and looked down at his blood stained glove. _How could this pathetic being draw from me my royal blood? This should not be happening I am a super elite! I'm done playing games! _Vegeta clenched his teeth and bent down into a power up stance with his arms at his sides. Air slowly began to swirl around the Saiya-jin and the rubble that lie at his feet began to blow away slowly.

Sensing Vegeta's growing power, Jaco rocketed towards the Saiya-jin in an attempt to stop him. Before Jaco could react, Vegeta left an afterimage and surprised the alien with an elbow to the back. Jaco ricocheted off of the ground and Vegeta met him with a kick to the side of the head. Jaco slid across the marble and flipped back to his feet.

The second his feet touched down, Vegeta's dug an elbow into his gut and followed with an uppercut to the chin. Jaco's body flew backward like a ragdoll and crashed into the ground. "You thought you had me there for a minute, didn't you?" Vegeta laughed as he walked toward the injured alien. "Its a shame this fight is going to have to end so soon. I was actually beginning to enjoy it,"

Vegeta was caught off guard as the seemingly injured Jaco managed to land a clean right hand to his mouth. Vegeta roared in anger and re-engaged with Jaco. The two met briefly with a flurry of punches before Vegeta found an opening and swept Jaco's feet out from under him. The alien hit the ground briefly but back flipped out of the way of Vegeta's follow up attack. Vegeta shot two energy blasts at Jaco but both were deflected up into the sky. Vegeta used the blasts as a diversion and slammed an elbow into Jaco's mouth. Purple blood spurted out from the alien's mouth and stained Vegeta's body suit. Jaco crumbled down to his knees and watched as Vegeta drew his knee back in preparation to strike. Jaco placed his hands in front of him and blasted Vegeta backward with an invisible kiai attack.

The Saiya-jin flew backwards and landed on his backside at the other end of the ring. Vegeta and Jaco both struggled their way to their feet and glared at each other from opposite sides of the arena. Both fighters were battered, bruised and losing energy fast. The sun in the sky had fallen behind the stadium as the evening began to set in.

"Vegeta and Jaco are both looking exhausted! This is truly a fight for the ages! Everyone give them a round of applause!" the announcer called out. The crowd gave the fighters a roaring approval with cheers and homemade noisemakers.

"You know, spaceman, as much as I've enjoyed our little fight.. I think its time for it to end," Vegeta said as he settled down into a power-up stance. He twisted slightly to his right and held his left hand over his right near his midsection. Purple energy began to crackle to life within his palms and a smile crawled across his face. "You should consider yourself lucky as the first to be finished with my new technique,"

"Vegeta. I wouldn't," Jaco warned. "Not here,"

The Saiya-jin refused to heed Jaco's warning and continued to pour more of his energy into the ball of ki that was growing within his palms. Realizing it was a lost cause, Jaco knew he only had one option left. The alien took a deep breath, cupped his hands and connected his wrists in front of his face. _Well. Here goes nothing._

* * *

><p>"Master Roshi!" Yamcha shouted in horror. "He's not doing what I think he's doing, is he?"<p>

"I'm afraid so, Yamcha. He and Jaco are even in combat strength and he feels like theres no other option,"

"But...what if Jaco can't defend it?! If he fails.."

Master Roshi furrowed his brow and focused back on the ring.

* * *

><p>Jaco brought his cupped hands down next to his hip. "Ka...me...ha...me..." A bluish-white ball of energy formed within Jaco's cupped hands. The tournament announcer slowly began to back away from the ring and hid for cover behind the gong that signaled the beginning of the final match. Some of the members of the audience began to scramble toward the exits, as they were unsure as to what was occurring below them.<p>

"This will finish this fight once and for all, spaceman! Vegeta laughed maniacally. "Now take this! GALICK...GUN!" A light purple burst of energy shot out from Vegeta's hands and raced toward Jaco. The alien was taken aback at first at the magnitude of the blast, but quickly composed himself. _Here goes nothing. _"HAAAA!" The ball of blueish-white energy erupted from Jaco's palms and smashed into the purple energy beam that was baring down on him. The power of Jaco's Kamehameha forced Vegeta's Galick Gun back toward the Saiya-jin prince until there was a stalemate at the center of the ring. The beam struggle swayed precariously back and forth between Jaco, and Vegeta but, neither managed to create much headway.

_How can his technique be as strong as my Galick Gun? There's no way!_

_When did Vegeta have the time to create that technique? I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. But I don't think he can keep his attack going for much longer either._

With one final push from the exhausted fighters, the blasts detonated in the middle of the ring and bathed the entire arena in blinding, white light. Bits of the ring were scattered about and the surrounding audience was forced to duck and cover. When the light finally died down, both of the competitors were lying on their backs at the edge of the ring. Both fighters' outfits were tattered and torn with various cuts and scrapes covering their bodies. Jaco's head dangled from the edge, only inches from the ground, while Vegeta's upper half was sitting firmly on the grass while his legs remained in the ring.

* * *

><p>"He won," Krillin said softly. He turned to Yamcha and Master Roshi. "He won! He beat Vegeta!"<p>

Bulma uncovered her head and looked down at the scarred ring. Vegeta, and Jaco, who were spent of energy, still lay motionless on the ground below. "What on Earth...?"

* * *

><p>The announcer carefully peaked out from behind the gong he was using for cover and scanned the ground for his microphone. He found it sitting a few feet away and walked out from behind the gong to pick it up. He walked toward the ring and began to survey the situation. The ring was still in tact, but small chunks were taken out here and there and a haze of dust set in following the blasts.<p>

"It appears as though this match has finally met an explosive conclusion!" He saw Jaco still dangling precariously close to the edge and Vegeta struggling to sit up on the grass. "And it looks like with a ring out victory, we have our new champion!"

Jaco shook his head and sat up; his head still swimming. He placed a gloved hand on his forehead and applied a bit of pressure. "Y-You.. You haven't.. won yet.." Vegeta said weakly as he made his way to his feet.

"The fight is over, Vegeta," Jaco returned with a slight wince of pain. He grabbed his ribs, which Vegeta had most likely broken during their battle.

"This fight.. isn't over. We fight to the.." Vegeta fell down to his knees. "To the death.." The Saiya-jin coughed and took a few deep breaths. He pounded the ground with a clenched fist and gave a cry of frustration. "This isn't the end!"

"You know we're both too exhausted to continue, Vegeta," Jaco said as he finally managed to stand. "You're the only one who doesn't want this to end. We'll have our time," He paused for a moment. "Besides...we _are _tied," He gave a weak smile. Vegeta could only manage to scowl in reply. _We will have our day, spaceman. Frieza isn't the only one I plan to eliminate once I gain immortality._

* * *

><p>"And there you have it, folks! Lets give another round of applause for the new World Martial Arts Champion...Jaco!" the announcer roared into his microphone. The audience cheered wildly, and banged on homemade noisemakers. Drums were pounded in celebration and the announcer handed Jaco a large novelty check made out for 1,000,000 zeni. Jaco looked over the large check quizzically. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked.<p>

The announcer placed a hand over his microphone to block out his voice. "Its your prize money. Take the check to the bank, and they'll take care of it for you,"

Jaco glanced down at the check and back to the announcer. "Its just so...unnecessarily large,"

"Stop worrying about the check! I don't make the rules!" the increasingly irritated announcer shot back.

After a few more minutes of closing ceremonies, Jaco exited the arena and met up with Bulma, Master Roshi, and the others. The group showered him with congratulations and pats on the back as he still struggled to find out what to do with his giant check. "I don't mean to cut the celebration short, but I need to get back home," Bulma began. "I still have a month left of school. _But_, when the semester is over, I'm going to go back out and search for Dragon Balls. Care to join me?"

Jaco rubbed his chin for a moment. "I suppose the Galactic Command won't mind me staying here a little longer, what with Vegeta being here and all,"

"Speaking of Vegeta.." Bulma trailed off. The Saiya-jin prince stood alone with his back pressed up against the arena wall. "Hey, Vegeta!" He shifted turned his head slowly toward Bulma, but didn't say a word. "Come over here!" The prince didn't move. "Vegeta! Didn't you hear me?!"

"Shut up! You are not to speak to me that way!"

"I'll speak to you how I want!" Bulma stormed over to the scuffed up Saiya-jin and pressed a finger into his chest. "I was thinking about asking you to come along to find Dragon Balls again.." She continued playfully. "But now I'm not too sure,"

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Vegeta grumbled.

Bulma gave Vegeta a smile and a wave as she walked away. "See you in a month then!"

Exasperated, Vegeta followed her back to the group and stood face to face with Jaco for the first time since the end of their battle. "Looks like you'll be staying a little longer than you anticipated, Vegeta. We're staying at Master Roshi's until we leave with Bulma," Jaco said. Vegeta turned his back to the alien and grunted through his clenched teeth.

* * *

><p><strong>One Month Later<strong>

* * *

><p>Bulma's large, yellow aircraft kicked up blades of grass and dust as it descended upon a small village, and the location of the first Dragon Ball. Below them, two villagers appeared out from one of the larger houses and watched as the craft landed within the town's center. One of the villagers was a gigantic man bearded man that wore a large horned helmet, red cape, and purple body armor. The other was a small, black-haired girl wearing a purple bikini and purple helmet with a blade sticking out of the top. The girl watched from behind the giant man as the metal door on the side of aircraft slowly rose and out stepped Bulma. Her appearance had changed yet again in the time since the Tenkaichi Budokai. She wore a red shirt that left her shoulders exposed, orange shorts, and pink shoes with purple socks, but kept her hair tied up into a side ponytail.<p>

The little girl pointed from behind the giant man. "Dad, look! It's Bulma!" She ran out from behind her father to meet the new visitor. Bulma smiled as she saw the girl rushing over to greet her. "Chi-Chi!" The large man also walked up to the ship to welcome the familiar face. "I didn't expect to see again so soon!"

"It's great to see you, Chi-Chi! And you too Ox-King!" Bulma hopped out of the aircraft and gave the little girl a short hug, and received a pat on the back from the Ox-King that nearly knocked her over. Bulma regained her balance and fixed her hair while Jaco, and Vegeta emerged from the aircraft as well. Chi-Chi caught a glimpse of the Saiya-jin covered her mouth with her hands. _He's back too!_

"Well look who else we have!" the Ox-King began. "The World Martial Arts Champion and his more than worthy opponent!" Jaco walked up to the Ox-King and gave him a firm handshake. "It's good to see you again. It looks like your village has recovered nicely as well,"

The Ox-King nodded. "It has. All thanks to Master Roshi. Once word was out that the mountain had been destroyed, the villagers began to return,"

"Thats great!" Bulma said happily.

"What brings you all here?" Chi-Chi asked.

Bulma reached into a pocket on her shorts and removed her Dragon Radar. She held it up to the Ox-King and clicked the button on top. "I wasn't expecting a Dragon Ball to show up here again,"

"We weren't either," the Ox-King began. "A few weeks ago I shot down a pterodactyl for dinner and upon opening him up, I found a Dragon Ball in his stomach," Bulma and Chi-Chi looked at each other and recoiled at the thought. The Ox-King laughed and gestured for the group to follow him into his home.

* * *

><p>After a short meal, Vegeta, Bulma, and Jaco were once again on their way. The Ox-King had presented them with the Six-Star Dragon Ball and he wished them luck on their quest. As the group made their way back to their aircraft, Chi-Chi ran out of the house and attempted to catch up to them. "Hey! Wait up!"<p>

Bulma turned and waited for the younger girl. "What's up, Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi stopped in front of Bulma and looked at the ground, blushing slightly. "Actually...um.. Vegeta?"

Standing in the aircraft, Vegeta turned his head slightly. Chi-Chi walked up to the craft and began to play with her hair nervously. "Well, uh.. Will you think of me while you're gone?"

Vegeta snorted and began walking out of sight toward the back of the aircraft. "Unlikely," Chi-Chi's shoulders slumped and she stared at the ground with disappointment in her eyes. Bulma walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't mind him, Chi-Chi. We'll see you again soon,"

Chi-Chi watched as Bulma entered the ship and closed the door. The black-haired girl spun around and began to walk back to her home slowly. _I bet if I was strong he'd notice me. And thats what I need to do. I'm going to do anything I can to become strong._

Chi-Chi gave the aircraft a final half-hearted wave and looked up toward her house. To her horror, she saw a red-haired man wearing a long, purple coat, blue pants, brown boots, black gloves and a red bandana around his neck flanked by four soldiers carrying machine guns. The terrified girl bolted into her house to alert her father.

As the aircraft gained altitude, Bulma looked down to see the advancing military men. "What is going on down there?" she said to herself. Jaco walked up behind her and caught sight of the men as well. "You know what we need to do,"

Bulma gulped and nodded slowly. She navigated the ship around and back to the spot where the aircraft previously sat. "What are we doing now?" the oft-irritated Saiya-jin asked as the ship came to a rest on the ground. The side door flung open and Jaco stepped outside. He motioned for Vegeta to follow him and the Saiya-jin begrudgingly obliged.

The red-haired man marched his soldiers a few more yards until he waved for them stop a short distance from Vegeta, Jaco, and Bulma. "I'll be blunt," the red-haired man began. "You've got something of ours, and I expect you to hand it over,"

Vegeta stepped forward and laughed. "Really? You can't be serious,"

"I'm afraid I am, friend. Now.. We can do this the easy way. _Or _we can go about this the hard way," the red-haired man said.

Vegeta started to walk toward the armed men with a smirk on his face. Jaco followed him close behind. "I think you have your answer,"

* * *

><p><em>The next chapter will still be posted on Thursday. As always, I appreciate the follows, favorites, and reviews. I love hearing from everyone, and get excited for the next story arc! Til next time!<em>


	9. The Ruthless Prince

_First of all, I'd like to thank dragonball256 for reviewing each chapter of Zenkai thus far. I really appreciate it! You're effin' awesome! Reviews, comments, or suggestions are always encouraged. Anyway, now that the tournament is finally over, we've moved onto the first appearance of the Red Ribbon Army! I'm very excited to get this started so without further ado...here it is!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: The Ruthless Prince<strong>

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><p>The Ox-King began to exit his house to check on the commotion that was happening out in the village square. Jaco caught sight of the giant man walking toward the square, and waved for him go back. The Ox-King nodded in agreement, returned to his home, and closed the door. Vegeta and Jaco stopped a few yards away from the armed men and waited on their next move. Bulma stepped out of the aircraft to get a better view of the new adversaries, but made sure to stay far enough out of harms way.<p>

The soldiers all wore khaki jackets and pants that were each emblazoned with a red bow with 'RR' written in white on top of it and a black machine gun that were slung over their right shoulder. Vegeta took a step forward and each soldier drew their weapon with lightning speed. They each pointed their barrels at the Saiya-jin's chest, much to Vegeta's amusement. The red-headed leader rose his right hand and the soldiers lowered their weapons.

"Calm down, boys. You'll have your fun," he said with a laugh. "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Colonel Silver of the Red Ribbon Army, and as I said before, you have something that belongs to us,"

Jaco and Vegeta stared, stone faced, at the colonel. He closed his eyes and shook his head in amusement. "Don't play dumb with me. Its an easy way to get yourself killed. You know what I'm here for,"

Vegeta smirked and cracked his neck back and forth. "Well then. It looks like you're going to have to take them from us the hard way,"

The colonel turned his back to Vegeta and Jaco and took a few paces away from his men. "You may fire when ready, boys,"

His troops raised their weapons, and pointed them at both Jaco and Vegeta. The prince took this as an invitation to fight and shot off before they even had a chance to fire. He easily landed a right cross to one soldier's face, spun around and landed a wheel kick to the face of a second soldier. Jaco, who was right behind him, handled the other two soldiers with similar ease. The four shocked soldiers crumbled to the ground, unconscious.

Colonel Silver clapped sarcastically and slid his blue trench coat off of his shoulders and onto the ground. He turned to face Vegeta and Jaco, and smiled while cracking his knuckles. "I'll have you know, I used to be a professional boxer,"

"So?" Jaco deadpanned. "I don't see how that gives you any advantage,"

Colonel Silver narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth. "You just made a big mistake!" Silver lunged at Jaco with a black gloved fist cocked back. "Nobody disrespects me like that!"

Jaco slid into a fighting stance in preparation for combat, but Silver was stopped short by a punch to the stomach that was delivered by Vegeta. Silver doubled over and staggered back and forth. "So. This is the part where we get killed, right?" Vegeta mocked as he grabbed the colonel by his throat. He held Silver by the neck and lifted him into the air. He rammed an uppercut into Silver's stomach, causing saliva to shoot out of his mouth. "Now.. About those Dragon Balls," Vegeta said with a smile.

Silver struggled to free himself from Vegeta's grip. He placed both of his hands on Vegeta's wrist and tried to pull the Saiya-jin's hand from his throat. Silver kicked and thrashed back and forth, but to no avail. His attempts to escape only made Vegeta place more pressure on his throat. Veins began to bulge from Silver's neck as he struggled to breath and saliva began to drip out of his mouth.

"Vegeta! You're being a bit extreme, don't you think?" Jaco asked as he walked up behind him. He placed a hand on Vegeta's shoulder, but was met by and elbow to the stomach. Vegeta twisted slightly and used his free hand to shoot an invisible kiai at Jaco. The pale blue alien rolled backwards in a daze and came to a rest near Bulma's feet.

"Now, where were we?" he said, turning his attention back to Silver. "I suggest you tell us where you're hiding _your _Dragon Balls. If you don't.." Vegeta gave him a maniacal smile. "Its an easy way to get yourself killed,"

Silver tilted his head down and looked the Saiya-jin in the eye. "I'll...never tell...you...where. You'll never...d-defeat...the Red Ribbon Army,"

Vegeta smiled. "What a pity," He rose his free hand to Silver's chest and charged up and energy blast. Jaco and Bulma watched, frozen in shock as Vegeta released the energy blast into Silver's chest. The burst of energy tore through his muscles, and vital organs, and exited through his back. When the blast and smoke subsided, nothing but a charred hole remained. Vegeta dropped the deceased colonel and began to walk back toward Bulma, and Jaco.

Tears began to well in Bulma's eyes at the sight of Vegeta's cruelty. Jaco got up from his knees and stood in front of her. "Vegeta.." he began. "You had no reason to kill him! He was no threat to you!"

"He was in my way!" Vegeta growled. "If we're going to collect these Dragon Balls, we're not going to make the same mistakes as last time!"

Jaco took a step toward Vegeta. "And why are you so intent on collecting these Dragon Balls, Vegeta? I know you don't care about Bulma's wish. Whats in it for you?"

Vegeta turned his back to Jaco and crossed his arms. "So.. You think you've got it all figured out don't you, spaceman?" He closed his eyes and smiled. "Its simple. I want immortality,"

"Immortality?!" Bulma exclaimed. "But why?"

Vegeta's expression became more severe and looked over his shoulder at Jaco and Bulma. "I don't plan on staying on this worthless planet. I spent years traveling from planet to planet looking for a way to find the power to defeat the evil tyrant that enslaved my people. My ship was damaged, and knocked off course and that is how I found myself here. After hearing the story of these Dragon Balls, I decided to take my chances and stay for a while in hopes of finally achieving my destiny. My destiny of becoming the strongest warrior in the universe! And the only way realize my goal.." he was cut off.

"Is to kill Frieza," Jaco finished for him.

Vegeta spun around and looked at Jaco with surprise. "How do you know about Frieza?!"

"I'm in the Galactic Patrol," Jaco said. "How can I not know about Frieza? We would have done something long ago, but he's far to strong for even our most powerful patrolmen," Jaco looked back at Bulma and saw fear in her eyes "There's someone out in space thats even stronger than you two?" she asked; her voice cracking. Jaco placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "There's no need to worry, Bulma. His operations take place on the opposite side of the galaxy,"

Bulma looked down at the ground and brought her knees up under her chin. Jaco turned back to the Saiya-jin prince. "As for you, Vegeta," Jaco continued. "How do you think immortality is going to help you?"

"Thats the best part about the Saiya-jin race," Vegeta said; his expression relaxing. "The more we fight, the stronger we become. Frieza can beat me to within an inch of my life and I'll just come back more powerful each time! Every injury I suffer will be a nail in his coffin! And no one here will stop me from fulfilling my destiny!" Vegeta dashed past Jaco with lightning speed and picked up the Dragon Radar that Bulma had dropped on the ground. Jaco grabbed at Vegeta's leg as he took off for the skies, but missed.

Bulma and Jaco watched as Vegeta disappeared into the clear, blue sky. "What do we do now?" Bulma asked. Jaco hopped up into the aircraft and offered a hand to help her in. "We're going to Master Roshi's to grab your spare Dragon Radar. We can't let him succeed,"

* * *

><p>Bulma's aircraft hovered near the shore of Master Roshi's island, and kicked up sand as the thrusters steadied the craft for landing. Launch, and Master Roshi stepped outside of Kame House and watched the aircraft touch down. The door opened on the side with a clang and Jaco hopped out. "Jaco? Its a surprise to see you again so soon," Master Roshi said as he met the alien on the beach.<p>

"I wish I was here on better terms," Jaco began. He explained the events that had occurred at the Ox-King's village and followed Master Roshi into the house the find the spare Dragon Radar. Bulma finally made her way out of the ship and walked up the beach to Kame House. "What a way to start summer vacation," she said to Launch with a sigh.

"Jaco seemed to be pretty shook up," Launch replied as she gave Bulma a hug. The lavender-haired girl nodded in agreement and ran a hand through her hair. She and Launch entered Kame House and saw Jaco rifling through drawers in the kitchen while Krillin and Yamcha received a debriefing from Master Roshi.

"I knew there was something off about him," Yamcha announced.

Krillin pounded a fist on the kitchen table and rattled the plates that were sitting on it. "We have to stop him at all costs!"

* * *

><p>Vegeta had followed his Dragon Radar north toward a grouping of two Dragon Balls. The closer he approached to the Dragon Balls, the more the weather worsened. Winds howled, and snow blew wildly around the Saiya-jin prince. It didn't make matters easier that his extended flight time was tiring him out. He scanned the ground for a place to land and decided upon a clearing at the outskirts of a forest.<p>

Vegeta touched down, and leaned up against a tree to catch his breath for a moment. He glanced down at the Dragon Radar and saw two circles blinking north of his location. He weaved back and forth between the trees until he exited the forest. He raised his right arm over his eyes so he could get a better view of his surroundings, and off in the distance loomed a towering building. It was cylindrical, with platforms and spikes jutting out from the sides. Below, it appeared to be surrounded by a tall chainlink fence and fortified by dozens of soldiers.

Khaki clad army men paced on each side of the chainlink fence with their weapons slung over their shoulder. Vegeta raced toward the tower, but was spotted by the soldiers the moment he was out in the open.

"Stop! You are trespassing on grounds administrated by the Red Ribbon Army!" a voice cried out. Soldiers trained their weapons on the Saiya-jin, but he continued to advance.

"This is one final warning!" one of the soldiers shouted, but Vegeta refused to heed the warning. A soldier thrust his arm forward. "Fire!"

* * *

><p>An explosion rocked the shores outside of Kame House and sent a wave of water crashing into the small dwelling. Jaco, Krillin, and Yamcha dashed out of the front door and came to a skidding halt. A fleet of battleships were slowly advancing on the island, manned by more members of the Red Ribbon Army. At the bow of the lead battleship stood a blonde-haired, blue eyed man wearing a khaki army uniform, skinny red tie, blue armband, navy blue horseback riding pants, and black military boots. He lowered a pair of binoculars from his eyes and motioned for the ship to fire again.<p>

Jaco, Krillin, and Yamcha watched as another shell erupted from the battleship and began close in on the island. Bulma, and Launch peeked out from behind Master Roshi, who was observing from the doorway. They watched as Krillin, Jaco, and Yamcha scattered on the beach before being knocked backward into the house from the force of the blast. Roshi walked out onto the beach, and threw his cane onto the ground. He tore his orange Hawaiian shirt off and cupped his hands in front of his face. "Ka.. me.. ha.. me.. HAAA!"

An enormous blue energy blast shot forth from Roshi's hands and rocketed toward the approaching battleships. Jaco looked at Krillin, and Yamcha, and motioned for them to follow him. The three raced to the shore and each released a Kamehameha blast of their own and demolished the remaining battleships. Krillin, and Yamcha pumped their fists in the air in celebration, but Jaco and Master Roshi remained composed and focused on the horizon.

* * *

><p>The blonde-haired army man rose from the azure blue ocean sputtering for air. The right side of his khaki military jacket was torn off during the explosion and his chest was now covered with cuts and scrapes. He carefully treaded water for a few minutes as members of his military unit slowly began to surface as well.<p>

"General Blue!" a soldier cried out. "What are our orders, sir?"

General Blue turned to his soldier. "We wait. I have submarines that will be here in a matter of minutes,"

* * *

><p>Vegeta dashed around the tower's compound with a hail of bullets closely following him. He planted a foot against the stone tower and launched himself into the air. The prince released a series of energy blasts the scattered the army and made them run for cover. Vegeta landed and began to blow up ammunition reserves, soldiers and vehicles as he raced around the base of the tower.<p>

Commanders from inside of the gigantic structure had begun to close off the entrances and blared sirens to scramble the soldiers into action. The entrances were covered with heavy titanium doors that not even Vegeta's energy blasts could penetrate; much to his frustration.

Loud rumbling sounds in the sky caught Vegeta's attention as Red Ribbon Army bombers began to drop paratroopers into the fenced off compound. The Saiya-jin jumped into the air and began to pick off the soldiers with energy blasts one-by-one as they descended.

* * *

><p>Submarines silently rose from the sea behind General Blue and his few remaining men. Blue swam over to the closest sub and unlocked the door to enter. He dropped down into the nautical vehicle and was met by salutes from the soldiers piloting it.<p>

"Sir!" the soldiers clicked their boots and saluted in unison.

"Fire your rockets. All of them!" he instructed.

A soldier walked over to a large computer that housed the parascope screen and dozens of blinking lights. He typed in an access code, and pressed the large, red launch button. The submarine shook slightly as the payload was released from the launchers on the top of the sub.

* * *

><p>The group on the beach watched as the missiles erupted from what seemed like nowhere. Without a word, Jaco shot up into the sky and took off toward the incoming rockets. Jaco paused in mid air and shot a kiai at the rockets to knock them off course, but the rocket's speed proved to be too much to be sent back. The inhibited rockets stayed on course and collided with the pale blue alien.<p>

"Jaco!" Krillin yelled from the beach. "No!"

Bulma turned from the explosion and buried her head into Launch's shoulder as Jaco's smoldering body fell into the ocean. Krillin raced off into the water and recovered Jaco's injured body. He lie the unconscious alien down on the beach and pounded on his chest a few times. He placed his ear on Jaco's chest to listen for a heartbeat but quickly sat back up. He turned to Master Roshi. "I hope this doesn't sound insensitive, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be listening for. He is an alien after all,"

Before anyone could reply, the group was interrupted by the sound of guns clicking as they were being prepared to fire. The soldiers shoved the barrels of their guns into Master Roshi and Yamcha's backs, and forced them to the ground. General Blue walked through his grouping of soldiers. "Bravo. You fought back more valiantly than I had anticipated," He pointed toward the house and two of his soldiers brought both Bulma, and Launch down onto the beach at gun point.

General Blue began to pace with his hands clasped behind his back. "Now, here's how this is going to work," he began. "You are going to hand over the Dragon Ball and come with us. Because we can't risk another mishap like we had earlier with Colonel Silver, you are all now prisoners of the Red Ribbon Army,"

"We're not going anywhere!" Krillin shouted. He lunged at General Blue's face with a right cross, but the general easily dodged by leaning backward. The soldiers raised their guns at Krillin but were waved off by Blue. "If he wants to become our captive the hard way, I'm all for it,"

General Blue motioned for his soldiers to give him some space, and the soldiers obliged. Blue lowered himself into a fighting stance and beckoned for Krillin to attack. The monk took the invitation and swung a right kick toward Blue's ribs. The general blocked and retaliated with a straight left to Krillin's face. Krillin brushed the punch aside and threw a left uppercut to Blue's jaw. The blow connected, but to Krillin's surprise, Blue kept coming forward. General Blue threw a push kick to Krillin's stomach and knocked him to the ground. Krillin rolled backwards and rushed at Blue with a flurry of punches that failed to connect.

Blue landed with a left cross and followed it up with a right one. He grabbed the back of Krillin's head, and slammed the the monk's head into his knee. Krillin fell forward and landed face first in the dirt. Krillin attempted to stand, but Blue placed his boot on Krillin's back. "Anyone else?"

Yamcha and Master Roshi gritted their teeth and said nothing. Blue kicked Krillin over toward Roshi and smiled. "Thats what I thought," He resumed pacing in front of the group again. "Now which one of you has our Dragon Ball?"

Bulma squeaked with nervousness and dug into a small blue bag that was attached to her hip. She removed the Dragon Ball and rolled it out onto the beach. Blue walked over and picked it up. He rose the magical object above his head and examined it as the bright sunlight gleamed off of its translucent orange surface. "Ah.. the Six-Star Dragon Ball,"

He looked back down at his prisoners and grinned. "I think its time you came with us," The soldiers pressed the barrels of their guns into their captive's backs again and led them to the nearest submarine. Blue pointed at Jaco and had one of his soldiers pick him and and take him along.

* * *

><p>Vegeta stood in the cold at the base of the tower with his hot breath rising in front of him. Behind him was a scene of destruction. Soldiers' bodies lay strewn about, and craters pockmarked the battlefield. The Saiya-jin was all but sealed out from the stronghold, but he was determined to find a way in. He looked up and saw a beam of light coming from a small window on the second floor. Vegeta smiled and hovered silently toward the opening. The window was covered in iron bars, but nothing the Saiya-jin prince couldn't handle. He rose his right hand and blasted the barred window apart.<p>

Vegeta made his way through the hole in the wall and planted his feet on the tile floor. The room was bathed in florescent white light that bounced off of pale green walls. Vegeta looked down at the Dragon Radar and it looked like the Dragon Balls were right on top of him. He began to walk toward a sliding metal door, but before he could reach it, the door slid open to reveal a large, hulking man on the other side. The giant had a short, dark red hair on top of his head and wore a dark gray flack jacket with tight, black pants, black gloves and a pair of sunglasses.

"Now what do we have here," Vegeta said, amused.

The giant ducked under the doorframe and entered the room. It moved mechanically into a fighting stance and awaited Vegeta's next move. "Well.. It looks like someone wants to play,"

* * *

><p><em>Red Ribbon Army! This is the first time in Zenkai that two different story lines developing at the same time, which is a lot more fun to write. This story arc has some many different possibilities I'm looking to explore. I can't help but say it has me excited! Let me know what you guys think! I can't wait to get the next one up. If possible, I may get another chapter up before next Thursday. We'll just have to see how it goes. As usual, thanks for reading, all! I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am writing it. Til next time!<em>


	10. Standoff

_Thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing, and favoriting! Last week's chapter release was Zenkai's most viewed/visited day yet! I'll do my best to make this story even better! I think that what I have in store as we move down the line will be great. As always, if there's something you have comments or questions on, don't hesitate to leave a review. Now, on with the show!_

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: Standoff<strong>

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><p>Bulma sat with her back up against a cement wall and her head resting on her knees. Her wrists were tightly bound behind her back with the zip ties that General Blue and his soldiers had detained her with. She had struggled for hours to free herself from the zip ties, but to no avail. Even Master Roshi, Krillin, and Yamcha had failed in their attempts to escape, and were now sitting stoically in the center of the room. Launch lay on the lone prison bed with her head buried in a pillow, and soft sobs could be heard occasionally coming from her direction. Bulma tried to aid her as much as she could, but Launch proved inconsolable. Jaco, still unconscious, lay on his back against the wall furthest from Bulma. Burn marks were scattered across his body following the rocket explosion, and his shallow breathing made the group think he was dead on more than one occasion.<p>

"There's gotta be a way.. outta.. these things!" Yamcha said through clenched teeth as he struggled to break free from his zip ties.

"Ha!" a Red Ribbon Army soldier clanked the bars with the barrel of his gun. "If you think you're going to escape, you've got another thing coming!" Yamcha glared at the soldier, but didn't say a word. "Dr. Gero formulated those to be unbreakable! You'll never leave this place alive!" he sneered. The guard smirked and walked away from the cell.

"Dr. Gero.. that name sounds familiar," Bulma said quietly to herself.

"Whats that, Bulma?" Roshi asked. He thrust himself forward and up to his feet.

Bulma glanced up at the martial arts master with a puzzled look. "Dr. Gero. The name that that soldier said. I think I've heard of him before.." she trailed off. She sat for a moment in thought, and then her eyes widened in realization. "I know where that name is from! It's from one of my Dad's science magazines!" Bulma pressed her back against the wall and used it to stand. "He's one of the leading scientists in many different fields.. But what he's doing working for these guys I have no idea,"

"So you're saying we're hopeless," Krillin said with a sigh.

"No, not at all. There's got to be some way to break these.." Bulma gave her wrists a tug, but there was no give. "Wait! I've got it!" The lavender-haired girl walked over to the prison bars and looked down the hallway to see if there were any guards. "Dr. Gero may have taken into account that some people may have immense strength like you guys, but what you're able to do with your energy is something he may not have thought of," She walked back to the center of the prison cell and next to Master Roshi. "Master Roshi, do you think you can concentrate your energy into one of your palms while you're tied up like that?"

Roshi nodded and a tiny ball of energy quickly formed in his palm. Bulma turned her back to the old man and placed her palms near the ball. "Now keep your energy steady.. and.. OW!" Bulma let out a scream of pain and lurched forward. She pulled her wrists apart with all her might, and managed to free them from the zip tie. Still hot from Roshi's energy ball, part of the zip tie melted onto Bulma's wrist. She bit her lip and ripped the zip tie off, along with a chunk of skin. She threw the zip tie on the ground and placed her wrist up to her mouth. "Shit.. that hurt!"

"You did it, Bulma!" Krillin cried out in happiness. Bulma nodded in acknowledgement and tended to her fresh wound. The celebration was cut short by the sound of boots stomping on the cement floor as soldiers made their way toward the cell. For the time being, Bulma ignored her wound and placed her hands back behind her back.

"What's with all the noise down here?!" one of the soldiers yelled. Two others stood with their weapons trained on the group of prisoners. "Put those down! The Commander would kill you if one of those accidentally went off," the two soldiers lowered their weapons. "Now, where were we?"

"You must be hearing things," Roshi began. "There's nothing coming from down here,"

The soldier narrowed his eyes at Roshi and began to walk away. Before he could get far, Jaco rolled over and began talking to himself in unintelligible words. The soldiers returned to the cell and watched as Jaco began to sit up. "Whu.. where.. where am I?"

"So, looks like this one finally decided to wake up," the soldier said. He motioned for the other two to remove Jaco from the cell. "You're coming with us," One soldier unlocked the door and yanked Jaco along while a second soldier watched Bulma and the others with a hand on his weapon. After the groggy Jaco was removed from the cell, the door slammed shut with a loud clang and the three soldiers walked Jaco down the long corridor and out into another building.

"We need to find where they're taking him," Bulma began. "We can't leave him alone with these guys," Krillin, and Yamcha walked up to Master Roshi and each had their zip ties removed in the same fashion that Bulma did. After freeing Launch, the group began to devise their next plan.

Yamcha walked up to the bars and tried to pry them apart, but the bars didn't budge. "It looks like they used some of the same technology on these bars," Master Roshi walked up to his student and forced him backward with the back of his hand. "Stand back, Yamcha," He obliged the request and receded toward Krillin, Bulma, and Launch. Master Roshi tried his hand at prying the bars apart but he too was unsuccessful.

"Krillin," Master Roshi said.

Krillin's perked his head up and walked over to his master. "What is it, Master Roshi?"

The old man turned to his student. "Do you think you can use that new technique you've been working on to bust us out of here?"

Krillin looked down and furrowed his brow. "Master, it's still unproven. I.. I'm not sure,"

"Give it I try, Krillin. I have faith in you,"

Krillin looked up at the old man and gave him a small smile. "C'mon, Krillin! You can do it!" Yamcha added. Krillin took a deep breath and walked a few feet away from the bars. He spread his feet and bent his knees. He raised his right hand above his head and began to swirl it in a clockwise motion. "Kienzan!"

A bright yellow disc formed above his flattened palm. He flung his hand forward and released the disc toward the bars. The disc slashed right through the bars and out into the hallway. "Krillin!" Roshi yelled. "Dissipate the attack!"

Krillin obeyed his master and threw his arms sideways. The disc still managed to create a small explosion, and left a black mark on the wall on the opposite side of the hall. Roshi walked up to the bars and saw where the Kienzan had sliced through. A loud bang echoed through the corridor as four soldiers rushed through the door with weapons drawn. "Well, it's now or never!" Roshi yelled as he cupped his hands at his waist. "Kame.. hame.. HA!" the blue beam blasted through the bars and through the wall on the other side of the hall.

Flying bricks and smoke impeded the soldiers' progress long enough for Krillin, Roshi, and Yamcha to escape from the cell. Yamcha threw a flying kick at the lead soldier and knocked him backwards into the group behind him. Krillin flew past Yamcha and cracked the lead soldier across the jaw that separated him from consciousness. Roshi threw a weak ki blast at a soldier as he rose his gun, and knocked him to the ground. Yamcha pounced on him, and thrashed his face with multiple punches.

A soldier at the back of the group began to fire his weapon at Krillin, but the monk gracefully backflipped away from the bullets and landed a kick to the soldier's throat. The soldier dropped his gun and staggered backwards into the wall. He slammed the wall to his left a few times until he found a giant red button and pressed it. The corridor began to flash with red lights, and an alarm blared loudly. Roshi finished off the last of the soldiers as Bulma, and Launch walked up behind them.

"Lets get out of here!" Launch screamed frantically.

"We need to find Jaco!" Bulma yelled back.

"We don't have time!" Launch returned.

"Yamcha!" Roshi shouted as he turned to his student. "Take the girls and get away safely. Meet us on my island. Krillin? You're coming with me,"

"But, Master!" Yamcha protested. Master Roshi pointed fiercely toward the exit. "Go!" Yamcha nodded and grabbed Bulma's wrist to lead her out of the building. Bulma in turn latched on to Launch's wrist and the trio disappeared out of the building.

* * *

><p>Jaco sat in a wooden chair, still recovering from his previous injuries. The chair he was seated in was turned away from a large computer with dozens of screens on it. The doorknob turned and in walked a tall, black man in a black suit, flanked by a very short red haired man that wore a dark blue suit and pants, an eye patch on his right eye, and black shoes. Jaco focused his eyes on the new entrants and watched as they walked up to him.<p>

"Now what do we have here?" the short man asked. He looked Jaco up and down for a moment. "You're clearly not from this planet,"

"Brilliant deduction," Jaco deadpanned. "You should start a think-tank,"

The man clenched his teeth and raised a fist into Jaco's face. "How dare you!" He cocked back his fist but was stopped by the taller man. "Please, Commander. Compose yourself,"

The short man backed up and grabbed his suit's lapels. "You're right," he exhaled and ran a hand through his red hair. He pulled a cigarette from his front pocket and lit it. He inhaled, and blew the smoke in Jaco's face before he began pacing back and forth in front of him. "Who sent you here, and how did you hear about us?"

"If you must know, I'm a member of the Galactic Patrol, and I'm not on this planet for you. The Galactic Patrol has much larger concerns than this two-bit operation you're running here," Jaco said.

The Commander took a drag from his cigarette. "Thats not saying much about yourself, being captured by a 'two-bit operation' now does it?"

Jaco tried tugging his wrists apart, but could not. The short, red-haired man was amused with the alien's struggles. "Testing out our detainment device? It's a brilliant design really.." Before he could finish, Jaco swept the short man's legs out from under him and stood. He thrust his forehead into the taller man's stomach and doubled him over. With the two men out of the way, Jaco dashed through the open door and down the hall.

"Staff Officer Black! Get him!" the Commander yelled from the ground.

Staff Officer Black composed himself and ran out of the room after Jaco. The Commander stood and shook his head. He removed a cell phone from his pants pocket and punched in a few digits. The phone rang a few times and a voice answered on the other end. The Commander greeted the voice. "Hello? Yes. Your services are required once more,"

* * *

><p>Vegeta stood his ground as the hulking giant made his way over to him. The giant raised a fist and swung it toward the Saiya-jin prince's head, but Vegeta backflipped away and watched the giant's fist collide with the floor. The tile cracked under the weight of his fist and a fissure spread out across the floor. Vegeta leapt toward the giant and threw a right kick at his chin. The kick landed with a metallic 'tink' sound and a dent formed on his jaw.<p>

Vegeta hopped back and watched the giant stand back up. _What is he? _The giant swung its right fist again, but Vegeta managed to dodge. The giant threw a left, and Vegeta rolled out of the way. The Saiya-jin countered with a punch to the giant's stomach and an uppercut to its chin. The giant flew backward and landed with a loud clang on the tile floor. Vegeta jumped into the air and fired a ki blast directly at the giant's chest, but the blast was redirected back at him. Vegeta backhanded the blast away and into the wall.

The giant stood and grasped at the hovering Saiya-jin, but Vegeta dove away from its hand and drove a heel into the giant's knee. The knee buckled backwards and caused the giant to tumble into the wall. It crashed through the wall and lay at the base of a staircase. Wires fell out of a seam on its damaged leg and little sparks of electricity shot out from the ends.

Vegeta watched as the machine struggled to stand. _He's a machine! But how? _Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the giant, and launched an energy blast toward its head. The robot knocked the blast away, and Vegeta used the window to attack. The Saiya-jin launched himself at the giant and landed a forearm to its neck. The fake skin on the machine's exterior peeled back, and wires spilled out from its neck. Vegeta thrust his other hand toward the machine's face, and unleashed an energy blast. The super heated blast disintegrated the giant's head, and the now headless machine collapsed backward.

"Hmph. If thats the best they've got.." Vegeta laughed to himself. He began making his way up the stairs and blasted a hole through the door on the next floor. The floor was dimly lit, in contrast from the last, and the moment he entered, two hands shot out and latched themselves around him neck. The Saiya-jin flailed, and struggled for breath, but the cold hands held steady.

"It looks like this is where you meet your end," a voice rang out from the shadows. A man with short brown hair stepped forth. He wore a long, brown sweater, red bandana around his neck, and khaki pants. Vegeta shifted his eyes to his assailant and saw two cold, black eyes staring right back at him.

"Let me introduce you to Android 8," the man began. The android looked like something out of a horror movie. It wore baggy blue suit jacket, and pants. It had a square head with tightly kept black hair and tan skin. "I never thought I'd ever have to activate Muscle Tower's last line of defense, but you've proven to be quite resourceful," The android's grip tightened around Vegeta's throat. The Saiya-jin gritted his teeth and kicked his legs at the android's midsection. "Its a pity.. Someone like you could be very useful to the Red Ribbon Army. But you've proved far too dangerous to trust, and the Commander has given me strict instructions to execute you,"

Vegeta could feel his energy slowly leaving him as the world blurred around him. He managed to release a weak ki blast from his right hand, but it did no damage to the android. "Now, Android 8.. finish him," the man instructed. The android lifted Vegeta into the air and tightened his grip further. Vegeta tried flexing his neck muscles to fend off the android's strength, but nothing seemed to help. As Vegeta's world began to fade from view, he was released from the android's grip, and crashed onto the ground. He immediately began coughing and took a deep breath.

"What? Impossible!" the man yelled. "Android 8! Destroy him!"

The android stayed frozen with his arms outstretched in front of it, and a low hum could be heard emanating its body. "Kill him! God dammit, Dr. Gero! You sent me a piece of junk!" the brown-haired man shouted. The man anxiously reached for his gun and withdrew it from its holster. Vegeta made his way to his feet and began to advance toward the man with a smirk. The weapon fell from the man's shaking hands and clanked on the floor beneath. He hurriedly snatched it and fired three shots toward the Saiya-jin that all missed their mark. He fired a forth that whizzed toward Vegeta's head, but the Saiya-jin casually moved his head to dodge.

Vegeta reached the man and placed his hand around the barrel of the gun. He ripped it from the man's hands and tossed it across the room. "You won't need your useless toys where you're going," he said with a laugh. "This should be a lesson to you not to let a machine do a man's.. JOB!" He slammed a fist into the man's chin and sent him flying backwards. The man slammed into the wall and fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Blood quickly began to leak from his mouth following Vegeta's powerful shot. "This isn't.. over.." the man sputtered. He removed a small remote control from his pocket and pressed the large button that was on it.

A voice came forth out from inside the android. _Self-Destruct Sequence now activated. Ten seconds until self-destruct. _

"What?!" Vegeta shouted.

The man lay on the ground and laughed. "You'll never make it out alive!"

* * *

><p>Jaco wove back and forth through a long corridor as bullets ricocheted around him. Smoke poured from Staff Officer Black's gun barrel and into his face as he ran after his prisoner. Unable to open any doors, due to his bondage, Jaco found it difficult to lose Staff Officer Black even in the labyrinth of hallways that was the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters. Jaco made a right turn, and followed the corridor into a large brick-walled room. He came to a skidding halt and looked for his next exit. Staff Officer Black caught up to him and stood in the only doorway.<p>

"End of the line," Staff Officer Black said as he pointed his weapon right between Jaco's eyes. He cocked the hammer of his gun and prepared to fire. Jaco took a few steps backward and pressed his back against a gigantic window that overlooked the Red Ribbon Army stockyards. Black fired, and Jaco dove to the floor. The bullet sailed over his head and shattered the glass behind him. Shards cascaded onto the floor around the alien as the window fell apart. Black ran toward his downed target and fired wildly, but Jaco rolled across the floor and away from the bullets.

Jaco forced himself to his feet and dashed toward the broken window. "No you don't!" Black screamed. He fire his weapon one more time and caught Jaco's shoulder with a bullet. Jaco twisted from the force of the blow and fell backwards out of the cracked window. He managed to right himself as he fell to the ground and landed on his feet. Black ran to the broken forth story window and watched as Jaco ran toward a plane hangar.

Staff Officer Black clicked a button on his wristwatch and watched as a soldier appeared on the tiny screen. "Staff Officer Black!" the soldier began. "What can I do for you?"

"A prisoner has escaped. Send a group of soldiers to the plane hangars under direction to execute him,"

"But sir! All of our soldiers have already been called to deal with a separate breakout!"

"What?!" Black let out an aggravated cry and threw his gun at the brick wall behind him. He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily through his nose. "Once the others are dealt with, send them to the hangars. He won't be getting far," He clicked his watch off and stoically exited the room.

* * *

><p>Master Roshi, and Krillin stood in fighting stances as a horde of Red Ribbon soldiers ran toward them with their weapons drawn. "You ready, Krillin?" Roshi asked. Krillin nodded to his master and each fighter cupped their hands at their sides. "Kame.. hame.. HA!" they both shouted in unison. Twin blue blast erupted from their position and bore down on the advancing army. The soldiers' eyes widened in fear as the blasts closed in on them. The beams connected with the ground, just in front of the soldiers, and send bodies flying into the air.<p>

Soldiers at the back of the group began to run away from the battle, but were forced back into the unit by General Blue, who was arriving up in the back of an armored military truck. He pointed toward Krillin, and Roshi, and the soldiers began to advance once more. The pair began to fire ki blasts toward the unit, and stopped their progress once again. "Master!" Krillin shouted between ki blasts. "This is making me tired! How many more are there?"

"Just a few more, Krillin! We should be able to fend for ourselves soon enough!" Master Roshi fired a few more blasts and waited for the dust to clear. General Blue watched from behind the dust cloud as his army was now a mere group of scared men. A unit of one hundred was now reduced to thirty conscious men in torn up military uniforms. _I may have to get a bit more involved than I planned. _He thought as he removed his khaki military jacket.

* * *

><p>Staff Officer Black returned to the room that Jaco was being held in and stood behind the Commander, who was now watching the security cameras. Krillin and Roshi could be seen engaging soldier after soldier in combat, and each time, the old man and the monk won.<p>

"Commander Red," Black began. "The prisoner has escaped,"

"He what?!" Commander Red pounded a fist on the console and caused the video to flicker for a moment. "_All _of them have escaped?!"

Black looked down at the floor. "Yes, sir,"

Red grabbed a cigarette from his pocket and placed it into his mouth. He lit it and took a couple puffs as he regained his composure. "I've already planned for your usual incompetence.." Red stated. Black gritted his teeth and scowled at the back of Commander Red's head. A knock came from behind them, and standing in the doorway was a tall man with a thin mustache, and long black hair tied in a pony tail. He wore a pink longcoat that had a kanji for 'kill' printed on it, baggy black pants, and black shoes.

"Ah.. Mercenary Tao. You've finally decided to join us,"

* * *

><p>Krillin, and Master Roshi watched from above as planes hummed, and began to drop paratroopers into the battlefield to supplement the decimated army. "Looks like we've got our work cut out for us, Krillin,"<p>

"The sky is full of them!" Krillin marveled. "What are we going to do, Master?!"

Before Roshi could speak, he watched as a cloud of dust plowed through a group of soldiers. Krillin, and Roshi dropped into fighting stances as the cloud approached. It stopped a few yards in front of them, and when the dust settled, Jaco stood before them.

"Mind if I appear?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Jaco!" Krillin shouted happily. "You're alright!"

"Can you get this thing off of me? I can't seem to break it," Jaco asked as he turned his back to the pair. Krillin ran up to the alien and melted the zip ties off. Jaco grabbed his right wrist and twisted it back and forth to loosen it up. He looked up and watched as hundreds of soldiers fell from the sky toward the battlefield. Roshi walked between Krillin, and Jaco and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Lets get to work, boys,"

* * *

><p><em>Whew! The battle lines have been drawn, and the boys have quite a bit of work to do. And of course, Vegeta has his own problems at Muscle Tower. That chapter took me a while to get through. I'm writing this at nearly 3am on Thursday. I wanted to get everything set up just right for the next bit. Things will be resolved, and even more problems will fall upon our heroes' plate in the next chapter! Til next time!<em>


	11. Early Activation

_Thanks to all for reading, favoriting, and what not! It always means a lot! This is a part of the story I've been wanting to write for a while now. It's been in the planning stages since all the way back before this was published. We got here a little differently than originally planned, but thats ok. I'm happier with this version anyway.._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11: Early Activation<strong>

* * *

><p>Vegeta hovered several meters above the ground, staring at the wreckage that was once the mighty Muscle Tower. Tiny chunks of stone and bits of metal still drizzled from the sky, landing upon the detonated remains. The upper left side of Vegeta's blue body suit was torn off, leaving his chest, and left arm exposed. Scorch marks and blood droplets dotted his face and bare chest, and bits of hair were singed on the back of his head. He ran a gloved hand through his jet-black hair and let out a deep sigh of relief. He looked down at his Dragon Radar and noticed a large crack in the center of the screen. The explosion had taken a toll on more than just himself.<p>

He clicked the button on top, but the machine failed to function. He repeatedly clicked the button a few more times before slapping the back of it as his frustration grew. "What a piece of junk," he muttered to himself. Following a second slap, the machine jolted to life, and gave out the familiar beeping sound that he was accustomed to. He descended upon the wreckage and began overturning stones to finally claim his prize.

After a few minutes of searching, he came across his first Dragon Ball. The Four-Star Dragon Ball sat wedged between two large pieces of scrap metal. Vegeta wrenched the ball from its confines and blew away some of the dirt that had accumulated on it from the blast. He rubbed his thumb across its smooth surface and gazed quietly at the four red stars that hovered within the sphere.

One of Vegeta's few moments of serenity was quickly interrupted by the sound of a guard tower collapsing a few meters away. Vegeta shielded his eyes as dust and debris were whipped up once again. He clenched the Dragon Ball in his gloved hand and looked at the Dragon Radar that he held in the other. One more Dragon Ball still remained where Muscle Tower once stood, and Vegeta resumed his scavenging once more.

* * *

><p>Commander Red kicked a tan folding chair across the small surveillance room in a fit of rage, and slammed his small fists against an enormous wall length computer. The battle outside was being broadcast via the surveillance camera feed. "What are those bastards doing out there?!" he cursed as his soldiers fell at the hands of Jaco, Krillin, and Master Roshi. "And this is my 'well trained army'.."<p>

The Commander placed a thumb and forefinger between his eyes and composed himself. He walked up to his recent arrival and was instantly dwarfed in size. He looked up into Mercenary Tao's eyes and spoke. "You're mission, Mercenary, is to eliminate all three of those pains in my ass. You may do so however you choose is most effective,"

"But of course," Tao said with a smirk. "I'll be on my way,"

Mercenary Tao exited the room, leaving Red, and Staff Officer Black alone once more. A thunderous noise erupted from the battlefield, and loose pieces of plaster began to fall to the floor around the army officers. Commander Red grabbed a cigarette from his front pocket and lit it. Following a drag, he turned to Staff Officer Black. "Reconvene in the basement bomb shelter. We can watch the battle from there,"

Another explosion shook the building, and even more plaster fell from the ceiling. The florescent lighting flickered momentarily, but managed to stay functional. Red shook some of the plaster and dust from his hair. "Oh, and notify Research and Development that I'd like to have Dr. Gero meet us in the shelter,"

"But, sir.. Why?" Black asked.

"Don't question me!" Red yelled, pointing a finger at the staff officer. "Just do as I say, and meet me in the shelter!"

* * *

><p>Jaco, Krillin, and Master Roshi had found themselves pressed against the remains of a stone wall with a hail storm of gunfire surrounding them. The trio had retreated behind the former prison wall in an attempt to catch their breath as wave after wave of Red Ribbon troops had made their way to the battlefield. Each of their respective outfits featured fresh bullet tears and frayed edges from close calls that nearly meant certain doom.<p>

Krillin's chest rose and fell rapidly as the small monk panted with fatigue. Perspiration formed like dew on his bald head, and trickled down his face before dropping onto the chipped tile floor that the trio found themselves standing on. He rested his head against the vibrating stone and shifted his glance toward Jaco.

The alien stood with his arms crossed against his chest, staring emotionlessly into the hollowed out ruins that was once their prison. "Do either of you see any one else parachuting into the battle?" Jaco asked, his gaze still locked in front of him.

Roshi and Krillin scanned dust obscured skies, but could not make out any more reinforcements. "There doesn't see to be," Roshi answered.

Jaco stepped forth from the stone wall and turned toward his allies. "Good.. I'm going to run.." He was cut off by a soldier that was sneaking around the stone wall. Jaco thrust his right hand forward and blasted the soldier backwards with an invisible kiai. "As I was saying.. I'm going to run toward that guard tower and try to draw their fire my way. Once I have them distracted, I want you, and Master Roshi to both use your Kamehameha techniques to finish off this last bunch,"

"Right," Krillin, and Roshi replied in unison.

Jaco rushed out from behind the stone wall, and was instantly met by bullets from all directions. He dashed from side to side to avoid them as he quickly made his way toward the guard tower. Unfortunately for Jaco, nearly half of the soldiers remained attacking where he had left Krillin, and Roshi. "Dammit.." he said under his breath.

Improvising a new plan, Jaco leapt up into the air, rose his left hand, and fired a scorching yellow ki blast from his palm. The ball of energy tore through the air and connected in between two groups of soldiers. The soldiers were all blown to the ground, giving Krillin, and Roshi a short window of time to release their attacks. Jaco watched as twin Kamehameha beams shot forth from the duo, with each blast connecting with a collection of soldiers to finish them off.

Before Jaco could celebrate, a familiar twinge of energy jolted through his mind like a lightning bolt. He quickly twisted in mid-air and watched as Vegeta stopped his flight path, accompanied with a loud cracking sound. Jaco's expression morphed from surprise to disgust at the sight of the Saiya-jin prince. Vegeta gave Jaco a smirk, and crossed his arms against his chest. Jaco spied the two Dragon Balls that Vegeta was carrying as well as the battered Dragon Radar.

"I hope you've come here to say that you've come to your senses and those Dragon Balls are a show of good faith,"

Vegeta gave Jaco a sinister laugh. "Far from it, spaceman. I've realized how easy this could have been all along. Now, if you'll excuse me.. I'll be collecting the Dragon Balls that are being kept inside that building.."

Vegeta began to descend slowly towards the ground. "..but don't you worry. Once I gain my immortality, I'll be seeing you again shortly thereafter to test my new power,"

Jaco raced to the ground and planted his feet in the Saiya-jin's path. "You know I can't let you do that, Vegeta,"

"If you insist," Vegeta replied with a smile. The prince leapt at Jaco with a flying knee aimed at his chest. The alien sidestepped the wild technique and landed a fierce punch to the middle of Vegeta's back. The blow forced the Dragon Balls, and the Dragon Radar, out of the Saiya-jin's clutches and onto the ground. Vegeta scampered to his feet and dove toward his treasures, but his progress was impeded as Jaco's hands clamped down onto his ankle. Jaco yanked Vegeta backward and placed a well timed elbow to the back of the Saiya-jin's head. Vegeta crashed into the dirt and kicked free of Jaco's grasp.

Once free, Vegeta darted at the pale blue alien with lightning speed and planted a powerful uppercut on Jaco's jaw that sent him flailing through the air. Jaco landed on his back and quickly reached to reset his slightly dislodged jaw. With a crack, and a jolt of pain, the alien put his jaw back in place and rushed toward Vegeta.

Just as the two were about to clash, Master Roshi appeared between them and knocked them backwards with a kiai from each hand. "The both of you need to stop this nonsense right now. We've got bigger problems to attend to than your petty rivalry,"

Vegeta, and Jaco glared at each other from opposite sides of the martial arts master. Roshi walked over to the two loose Dragon Balls and knelt down to pick them up. A thin yellow ray of energy exploded against the ground between the two Dragon Balls and scattered them in opposite directions. Everyone quickly turned their attention to a the source of the blast and saw Mercenary Tao standing atop the Red Ribbon headquarters with a finger gun pointed at them.

* * *

><p>Commander Red watched from a small television screen as Mercenary Tao slowly walked towards Jaco, and the others. He squinted at the grainy video, and realized that a new member had joined their group. "There are four of them now?!"<p>

Staff Officer Black walked up behind the Commander and studied the video for a moment. "That looks like the individual that caused all of those problems at Muscle Tower,"

"Muscle Tower? I explicitly told General White to solve that problem by activating Android 8 to dispose of him!"

"You don't suppose he defeated Android 8 do you?" Black asked.

Commander Red began to grind his teeth at the thought and lit another cigarette to calm himself down. Seconds later, the heavy metal door that locked the shelter away from the world slid open and in walked a balding old man with ice blue eyes. He was dressed in a long sleeved white shirt with a caramel colored vest on top, and black dress pants.

"Dr. Gero. How nice of you to meet with us," Commander Red said as he shook the doctor's hand. Red raised a hand to offer Dr. Gero a seat and the doctor obliged. Gero sat without a word and trained his cold eyes on the Red Ribbon Commander.

"I've asked you here to discuss the 'Red Ribbon Emergency Protocol'. I'm sure you're familiar with it," Red began. Gero nodded his head in agreement and Red continued. "As much as I have the utmost respect and faith in Mercenary Tao, I feel as though we should have some.. insurance.." he trailed off.

Dr. Gero shifted his weight forward in his chair. "What exactly are you suggesting, Commander?"

"I'm suggesting that you activate those two androids you've been working on and.."

"Absolutely not!" Dr. Gero cut off Commander Red. "They are nowhere near completion. Their battle power isn't even a fraction of what they're designed to be. There are still many tests left to run. If this is such a dire situation, why don't you just have Android 8 transported here. Its power should suffice,"

Commander Red took a final drag from his cigarette and ashed it in a nearby ash tray. "We're under the impression that Android 8 has been destroyed,"

"What?!" Gero jumped up from his seat in surprise. "That's not possible!"

"Its is," Staff Officer Black interjected. "Commander Red had instructed General White to activate him to fend off an intruder. That intruder is now outside of our headquarters alive and well,"

Dr. Gero furrowed his brow and began to play with his bushy, white mustache. "Although I do not fully agree, I will comply with your request, Commander,"

"These new androids of yours.. They are stronger than Android 8 are they not?" Red questioned.

Dr. Gero nodded and sighed. "They are,"

"Perfect," Red said with a maniacal grin. "Activate the androids and return to the shelter,"

Dr. Gero gave his superior a bow and exited the shelter for his laboratory.

* * *

><p>Krillin swung at Mercenary Tao with a mighty kick that the skilled assassin sidestepped with ease. Tao retaliated with a buckling punch to Krillin's ribs that doubled him over in mid-air. With lightning speed, Tao twisted and unleashed a side kick that collided with Krillin's right arm. His arm twisted from the blow and Krillin landed in an awkward heap on the ground. Tao gave an "Is this how you train your students? By sending them to their death?"<p>

As Jaco was about to take off toward the assassin, an unseen fist connected with the side of his head, sending him stumbling. Jaco regained his balance and saw a tattered General Blue staring at him from his fighting stance. Jaco the spot where the blow had connected and waited for Blue's next move.

Light blue tendrils of energy began to expand from the general's body and flowed over his being like waves. General Blue locked his narrowed eyes with Jaco. "I hope you like being paralyzed!"

Jaco stood still, mostly in confusion at General Blue's tactic. The waves of energy soon subsided and Blue began to walk forward with confidence. Jaco scratched his head. "What was that supposed to be?"

General Blue jumped backward in surprise. "W-what?! How are you moving?!" He dug a boot into the ground and leapt toward Jaco with fists ready to fly. Before Blue could get started with his assault, Jaco dug his shin into Blue's ribs and felt three of the tiny bones snap on the general's left side. Blue wrenched to his injured side and clutched his abdomen with both hands. Jaco watched as Blue staggered backwards, his legs shaking mightily. Blue began to cough and gag as blood made its way into his saliva.

"You'll.. pay.. for that.." Blue stammered between wincing breaths. The general let go of his side and began to run at Jaco once more. Ignoring the searing pain, Blue began a flurry of strikes aimed at the pale blue alien. Jaco artfully dodged the flurry until an opening presented itself and he capitalized with a straight left that connected right between Blue's eyes.

Not wasting a second, Jaco leapt forward at the injured general and drove an elbow into Blue's solar plexus. Breath and blood escaped from Blue's mouth as he tumbled to his knees. With one final kick, Jaco sent Blue careening through the air and crashing into the exterior of the Red Ribbon Headquarters. Blue slumped over, unconscious and defeated.

Jaco shifted his attention to a new task at hand. He narrowed his eyes at Mercenary Tao who was now dodging Master Roshi's attacks with his hands behind his back.

* * *

><p>Master Roshi swung a heavy uppercut toward Tao's jaw that the assassin easily deflected. Tao connected with a swift chop to the side of Roshi's neck, disorienting his target momentarily, and sent him flying backward with a stiff palm to the chest. Roshi skidded across the dirt and landed at Vegeta's feet. Roshi groaned as he regained his footing and darted back toward the mercenary that Krillin was now attacking.<p>

Vegeta watched Roshi, and Krillin fail to land a strike and be sent flying by the precise techniques of Mercenary Tao. Out of the corner of his eye Vegeta glimpsed his damaged Dragon Radar lying a few feet away. The Saiya-jin dashed toward the tiny device and scooped it up in one swift motion. Jaco noticed Vegeta's departure and took off to stop him only to be close lined by Mercenary Tao. "Where do you think you're going?" he chuckled between attacks. Jaco scowled at the assassin from his back before popping to his feet. The alien threw a heavy straight right to Tao's chest, but opened his palm part way through the attack to unleash a kiai that caused Tao to skid backwards.

Krillin, and Roshi stood panted heavily on either side of Jaco as Tao dropped his guard. Krillin's face was a mess of dried blood and bruises, and his orange gi was now mere tatters that barely covered his upper body. Master Roshi's trademark sunglasses now lie on the ground, split in half from a punch from Mercenary Tao. He had removed his orange hawaiian shirt earlier in the fight and was now down to just a pair of scuffed up, baggy, blue pants.

Tao lifted his pink clothing over his head and dropped it in a heap next to him. "It's time for each of you to die,"

* * *

><p>Vegeta rapidly glanced between his radar and the corridor as he rushed through the enormous Red Ribbon Headquarters. Three blinking spheres on the radar screen notified him that he was to take a right at the next corridor intersection. He followed the blips, but stopped dead in his tracks as two alien figures blocked his progression.<p>

The one on the left was a large, muscular man that dwarfed his companion. He wore a brown brassard and belt combination, large brown gloves, a long green skirt, and yellow and black boots. His skin was a dull shade of silver and had black hair that was tied tightly behind his head into a long braid.

The giant's comrade only stood waist high in comparison. The short, purple skinned man wore a tuxedo shirt under a dark yellow and blue overcoat that went down to his ankles, a red bow tie with the Red Ribbon logo sewn into it, baggy light blue pants, and a large, lime green hat with a red ball to top it off.

Vegeta cracked a smile and chuckled to himself. "Isn't this cute. It looks like the freak show is in town,"

Without words, the two men thrust their palms forward and began releasing rapid energy blasts at the Saiya-jin prince. Vegeta backflipped away from the short energy bursts and retaliated with a strong yellow ki blast of his own. The duo casually sidestepped the blast in unison as it rocketed past them and detonated against a wall further down the corridor. Upon contact, the building began to quake. Chucks of brick and mortar collapsed from the ceiling above but left the new duo unfazed.

Vegeta rushed at the shorter of the two with his free hand formed into a fist. As Vegeta reached striking distance, the duo struck with unity as both drove a fist into the Saiya-jin's stomach. The Dragon Radar became dislodged from Vegeta's hand and clanked to the ground in front of him. The silver-skinned one dropped the heel of his boot onto the radar's screen, shattering the device in the process. Vegeta darted upwards with a swift uppercut towards the radar's destroyer with intent to kill. The silver-skinned one grabbed Vegeta's wrist with both hands, stopping the attack, and viciously slammed him through the corridor's brick wall. Vegeta lay dazed on the ground amongst a heap of brick and plaster. Through the dust, Vegeta watched the shorter of the two slowly walked toward him with a menacing grin on its face, and mechanical laughter coming from its mouth.

* * *

><p>"Androids 14, and 15 have been activated, Commander," Dr. Gero announced as he entered the small shelter.<p>

"It appears as if they've already begun their mission," Staff Officer Black pointed out. "The one from Muscle Tower doesn't appear to stand a chance,"

Commander Red wrung his hands together in maniacal happiness at the results of his plan. "Soon these little rodents will be out of my hair and the Red Ribbon Army will be free to rule supreme!"

* * *

><p>Jaco's leg clashed with the block of Mercenary Tao and a faint rumble could be heard as the two body parts connected. The moment Jaco's boot touched the ground, Tao swept his legs out from under him and thrust a fist towards his chest. Jaco gripped Tao's fist and held him back with all his might. Krillin flew into Tao's peripheral with a leg drawn back to strike. The monk connected with Tao's throat, causing the assassin to draw back his fist from Jaco's chest. Jaco popped up from the ground and drove a strong combo of punches into Tao's stomach.<p>

Although Tao had superior battle power, the onslaught of three separate warriors was beginning to drain the skilled assassin. Before he could recover, Roshi came darting into the fray with a punch of his own that connected with Tao's chin and toppled him over. Tao rolled backwards and fired a sizzling Dodon Ray at Jaco's head, but the alien brushed the blast aside.

General Blue lazily opened his eyes, his vision blurry at first. Upon focusing, he watched the three combatants battling with Mercenary Tao. Although Tao was still holding his own and landing strikes, it seemed as if the tides were turning. Blue rolled to his uninjured side, but still winced in pain at the broken ribs that were effecting him. His breaths were quick and shallow as he made his way to his armored truck. He carefully hopped into the bed of the truck and grabbed a rocket launcher that was laying under a tarp near the cab.

He heaved the heavy launcher onto his shoulder and flicked the sights over his right eye. It was hard to aim at any particular fighter due to their incredible speed so Blue held his breath and hoped for the best and he gripped the trigger and fired.

Smoke billowed out from the back of the launcher as the missile rocketed toward its target. With his superhuman vision, Krillin noticed the rocket out of the corner of his eye and fired a ki blast that exploded upon contact. The warriors all stopped fighting and turned to see Blue staring back with a frightened look on his face.

"You're of no use to me anymore," Tao said coldly. A pointed a finger gun in Blue's direction and released his Dodon Ray toward the general. The thin, yellow beam laced through Blue's chest, sending the general tumbling backward out of the armored truck. Blue lay flat on his back with the smell of singed flesh invading his nostrils. His vision began to fail him and with one final breath, General Blue expired.

The silence of death was almost immediately broken as one of the exterior walls of the Red Ribbon Headquarters was blown open. Vegeta's smoking body careened through the opening before coming to a skidding halt in the dirt outside. Two figures, distorted by the smoke, exited the building together.

Jaco looked over toward the Saiya-jin prince to see him sitting on his hands and knees as the duo marched toward him. As the smoke cleared, androids 14, and 15 were revealed. The alien dashed over to Vegeta and stood next to him. "Get out of here! I can handle this by myself!" Vegeta growled as he made his way to his feet.

"It seems like you've done a great job of that already judging by the current events," Jaco returned sarcastically.

The short Android 15 broke from his march and rushed at Jaco with an energy blast forming within his palm. As he closed in, he released the blue energy ball at Jaco's chest. Jaco threw his hands up and caught the energy ball against his palms. Jaco's boots began to slide backward as the force of the ball became overwhelming. With all of his strength, Jaco whipped his hands upward and threw the energy ball into the sky where it exploded in a flash of bright blue light.

Jaco rushed toward 15, putting immense strength behind his punch. Jaco swiped, missed and his face was met by 15's shin. The pale blue alien's body snapped backward from the force, sending him off balance. 15 leapt forward and drove a kick right into the center of Jaco's chest, knocking the air from his lungs. Jaco rolled across the ground and came to a rest a few feet behind Vegeta. As he gasped for breath, he watched the smirking machine making his way towards him.

Vegeta jumped into action and landed with a diving punch that snapped 15's head back. From the ground, Jaco mustered as much energy as he could at the moment into a ki blast aimed at 15's head. Jaco unleashed the energy blast and watched as it clipped the android's hat, knocking it clean off of its head. 15's bald head revealed a clear dome with that housed circuit, wires, and gears that powered the machine.

"What is this thing..?"

* * *

><p><em>Androids make for a much more vicious Red Ribbon Army! I know some of you may think it strange that these two have appeared so early, but with all of the events planned out, I had no room down the line. So they're nerfed...a lot compared to their canon counterparts. I always liked their character designs and felt they could fit with the original Dragon Ball setting as well as they could in Z. Let me know what you think. This will also be the final update before my fall classes begin. I'll most likely be taking a bit of a break to refuel and hone my craft a bit more. That could also mean big, big changes for<em> Zenkai _if I know myself like I do. __We'll just have to see how it plays out._

_With Roshi and Krillin facing off with Tao, Vegeta and Jaco have their hands full with the newly activated androids. With overwhelming odds against them, the quartet will have to be creative if they're going to survive! Well...til next time!_


End file.
